Judge Merrick Garland and Seton Hall Law Professor Edward Hartnett

Seton Hall Law and Judge Merrick Garland


 

 

Seton Hall Law played a critical role in the ABA’s historic assessment of Merrick Garland, starting with alumnae Paulette Brown ‘76 and Karol Corbin Walker ’86.

Paulette Brown is, of course, the President of the American Bar Association and Karol Corbin Walker is Chair of its Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary, whose report declared Merrick Garland “Well Qualified” to be an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court.

The Committee relied in part on a Reading Group of Seton Hall Law professors, one of three such Groups preparing independent assessments of Judge Garland’s work. The only other law school so involved was Stanford Law School.

Coordinated by Professor Edward Hartnett, the Seton Hall Reading Group consisted of:

Seton Hall Law Faculty

In addition the Rodino Library’s Professor Brittany Persson also collaborated with librarians at Stanford Law School to create the database of opinions from which the groups worked.

This was an enormous task, requiring the Seton Hall Law professors to deploy their expertise over a wide range of disciplines to review literally hundreds of opinions and write detailed analyses of Judge Garland on the metrics of integrity, professional competence, and judicial temperament.

The work was highly confidential, and the work product continues to be confidential, although the report of the Committee can be found on the ABA’s website.