Merrick Garland in The New York Times

On Crime: Prosecuted terrorism as Justice Department official

Days after a huge bomb killed 168 people in Oklahoma City in April 1995, Merrick Garland was on the ground even as bodies were still being recovered, examining the crime scene and preparing for an eventual prosecution. Now a federal appeals court judge, Judge Garland was then the highest-ranking Justice Department official dispatched to Oklahoma City in the aftermath of the bombing. He spent the ensuing weeks helping to start the case, and later supervised the prosecutors from department headquarters.

Source: N.Y. Times, "Bombing case", by Charlie Savage Apr 27, 2010

On Crime: Oversaw death penalty prosecution for Oklahoma City bombers

Garland's former colleagues say that the Oklahoma City case had a lasting emotional impact on Garland. At the time, he was the second-ranking figure in the office of the deputy attorney general, Jamie Gorelick. Ms. Gorelick recalled he insisted that she send him to Oklahoma City to help begin the investigation in person. "He not only volunteered," Gorelick recalled, "he basically said, `You need to let me go.' "

Several prosecutors who worked on the case said Garland worked tirelessly to help run the investigation; overseeing search warrants, interacting with other law enforcement agencies and meeting with surviving victims. He appeared in court for the preliminary hearings of the two main suspects, Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols.

Garland was involved in major decisions including seeking the death penalty for McVeigh and Nichols. Garland apparently did not object to that proposal. McVeigh was found guilty and executed in 2001. Nichols is serving a sentence of life without parole.)

Source: N.Y. Times, "Bombing case", by Charlie Savage Apr 27, 2010

On Homeland Security: Release non-enemy combatants from Guantanamo prison

In the first civilian judicial review of the government's evidence for holding any of the Guantanamo Bay detainees, a federal appeals court has overturned a Pentagon tribunal's decision in the case of one of 17 Guantanamo detainees who are ethnic Uighurs, a Muslim minority from western China.

The imprisonment of the 17 Uighurs has drawn wide attention because of their claim that although they were in Afghanistan when the US invaded in 2001, they were never enemies of this country and were mistakenly swept into Guantanamo.

The one-paragraph notice from the appeals court said a three-judge panel [including Merrick Garland] found in favor of Huzaifa Parhat, a former fruit peddler who made his way from western China to a Uighur camp in Afghanistan. "The court directed the government to release or to transfer Parhat, or to expeditiously hold a new tribunal," the notice said. It said the court had found "invalid" the military's decision that he was an enemy combatant.

Source: N.Y. Times, "Guantanamo Detainee", by William Glaberson Jun 24, 2008

The above quotations are from Media coverage of political races in The New York Times. Click here for other excerpts from Media coverage of political races in The New York Times. Click here for other excerpts by Merrick Garland. Click here for a profile of Merrick Garland.
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