The Library of Congress recently denied a request to view the files of late Supreme Court Justice Williams Brennan Jr. by a law professor in search of clues about Merrick Garland’s time as a clerk at the Court. The papers prepared by Garland as a clerk were the target of the search in order to gain insight about the judicial philosophy of the would be Justice. However, the files were the private property of Brennan and were transferred to the Library under an agreement that kept the entire collection sealed until 2017. While this attempt to gain insight about past clerking activities failed, it was used to a great extant when Justice Elana Kagan was nominated during her confirmation hearings. But curiosity seekers should not be too disappointed, after years on the D.C. Court of Appeal there is ample evidence to suss out what legal path Garland would take. Let’s just see if the deadlock between the President and Congress over the nomination ends anytime soon.
See Sean Higgins, Garland info at Library of Congress blocked, Washington Examiner, April 19, 2016.
Special thanks to Brian Cohan (Attorney at Law, Law Offices of Brian J. Cohan, P.C.) for bringing this article to my attention.
