Washington, DC – Today, former prosecutors, law enforcement officials, and victim advocates who worked in the aftermath of the Oklahoma City Bombing to deliver justice to the families of the victims of that horrible day, sent a letter to Republican and Democratic Senate leaders in support of their former colleague, Chief Judge Merrick Garland, in support of his nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court. In it they write, “We are united today, as we were united two decades ago, in our respect and admiration for the integrity, brilliance, leadership, and judgment of Merrick Garland.”

Read full the letter here. Below is an excerpt:

On a personal level, we all benefited from having Judge Garland in our corner. For some of us, the bombing had ripped through our home town and killed and wounded neighbors and colleagues; for the rest of us who came to the task force from across the country, the case required many months away from friends and family. For all of us, working to secure justice for the victims and to reassure the nation that our judicial system could respond fairly but forcefully to such an act of domestic terrorism, the pressure to get it right was unyielding – and Judge Garland’s support was critical. He was not just a supervisor; he was a mentor, a counselor, and a friend.

Constitutional Accountability Center President Elizabeth Wydra said, “It is critical that Americans have a fully-staffed U.S. Supreme Court that can do its job. The Court’s job includes deciding important cases of constitutional and statutory law that help our hard-working law enforcement officers keep us safe and ensure that people’s constitutional rights are protected. The letter that these former colleagues of Judge Garland sent this morning – people who did their job when their nation called at an exceptionally painful time in our history – is a powerful testament to that fact, providing a striking contrast to the obstruction from today’s Senate majority.”

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Resources:

Letter from former colleagues of Merrick Garland during the Oklahoma City Bombing investigation and prosecution: http://theusconstitution.org/sites/default/files/briefs/Garland-OKC-letter-4-19-2016.pdf

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Constitutional Accountability Center (www.theusconstitution.org) is a think tank, public interest law firm, and action center dedicated to fulfilling the progressive promise of the Constitution’s text and history.

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