Merrick B. Garland
Appointed by President William J. Clinton in 1997 and confirmed by the Senate 76–23, Merrick B. Garland was a Judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. He earned a law degree from Harvard Law School in 1977. Opinions & record ↓ Sources ↓
- Born
- 1952 · age 74
- Appointed by
- William J. Clinton, 1997
- Confirmed
- 76–23
- Chief judge
- District of Columbia Circuit, 2013 to 2020
- Education
- Harvard College 1974 · Harvard Law School 1977
- Succeeded
- Abner Joseph Mikva
- Succeeded by
- Ketanji Brown Jackson
Federal judicial service
| Year | Court | Appointed by | Vote |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | District of Columbia Circuit succeeded Abner Joseph Mikva chief judge 2013 to 2020 | Clinton (D) | 76–23 |
Party letters show the appointing president’s party, not the judge’s own.
Confirmation vote
Nomination Confirmed 76–23 on March 19, 1997 · 105th Congress, Roll Call 34. Each senator links to their judicial-voting record.
Voted to confirm · 76
44 D, 32 R
- Spencer Abraham(R-MI)
- Daniel Akaka(D-HI)
- Max Baucus(D-MT)
- Robert Bennett(R-UT)
- Joe Biden(D-DE)
- Jeff Bingaman(D-NM)
- Christopher Bond(R-MO)
- Barbara Boxer(D-CA)
- John Breaux(D-LA)
- Richard Bryan(D-NV)
- Dale Bumpers(D-AR)
- Robert Byrd(D-WV)
- Ben Campbell(R-CO)
- John Chafee(R-RI)
- Max Cleland(D-GA)
- Dan Coats(R-IN)
- Thad Cochran(R-MS)
- Susan Collins(R-ME)
- Kent Conrad(D-ND)
- Alfonse D'Amato(R-NY)
- Thomas Daschle(D-SD)
- Mike DeWine(R-OH)
- Christopher Dodd(D-CT)
- Pete Domenici(R-NM)
- Byron Dorgan(D-ND)
- Richard Durbin(D-IL)
- Russell Feingold(D-WI)
- Dianne Feinstein(D-CA)
- Wendell Ford(D-KY)
- Slade Gorton(R-WA)
- Bob Graham(D-FL)
- Tom Harkin(D-IA)
- Orrin Hatch(R-UT)
- Ernest Hollings(D-SC)
- Kay Hutchison(R-TX)
- James Inhofe(R-OK)
- Daniel Inouye(D-HI)
- James Jeffords(R-VT)
- Tim Johnson(D-SD)
- Dirk Kempthorne(R-ID)
- Edward Kennedy(D-MA)
- Bob Kerrey(D-NE)
- John Kerry(D-MA)
- Herb Kohl(D-WI)
- Mary Landrieu(D-LA)
- Frank Lautenberg(D-NJ)
- Patrick Leahy(D-VT)
- Carl Levin(D-MI)
- Joe Lieberman(D-CT)
- Richard Lugar(R-IN)
- Connie Mack(R-FL)
- John McCain(R-AZ)
- Barbara Mikulski(D-MD)
- Carol Moseley-Braun(D-IL)
- Daniel Moynihan(D-NY)
- Frank Murkowski(R-AK)
- Patty Murray(D-WA)
- Jack Reed(D-RI)
- Harry Reid(D-NV)
- Charles Robb(D-VA)
- Pat Roberts(R-KS)
- John Rockefeller(D-WV)
- William Roth(R-DE)
- Rick Santorum(R-PA)
- Paul Sarbanes(D-MD)
- Bob Smith(R-NH)
- Gordon Smith(R-OR)
- Olympia Snowe(R-ME)
- Arlen Specter(R-PA)
- Ted Stevens(R-AK)
- Craig Thomas(R-WY)
- Fred Thompson(R-TN)
- Robert Torricelli(D-NJ)
- John Warner(R-VA)
- Paul Wellstone(D-MN)
- Ron Wyden(D-OR)
Voted against · 23
23 R
- Wayne Allard(R-CO)
- John Ashcroft(R-MO)
- Sam Brownback(R-KS)
- Conrad Burns(R-MT)
- Paul Coverdell(R-GA)
- Larry Craig(R-ID)
- Michael Enzi(R-WY)
- Lauch Faircloth(R-NC)
- Bill Frist(R-TN)
- Phil Gramm(R-TX)
- Rod Grams(R-MN)
- Chuck Grassley(R-IA)
- Judd Gregg(R-NH)
- Chuck Hagel(R-NE)
- Jesse Helms(R-NC)
- Tim Hutchinson(R-AR)
- Jon Kyl(R-AZ)
- Trent Lott(R-MS)
- Mitch McConnell(R-KY)
- Don Nickles(R-OK)
- Jeff Sessions(R-AL)
- Richard Shelby(R-AL)
- Strom Thurmond(R-SC)
Did not vote · 1
1 D
- John Glenn(D-OH)
Education
| Harvard College | A.B. | 1974 |
| Harvard Law School | J.D. | 1977 |
Before the bench
Professional career before and outside the federal bench, as recorded by the Federal Judicial Center.
| Law clerk, Hon. Henry J. Friendly, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit | 1977-1978 |
| Law clerk, Hon. William J. Brennan, Jr., Supreme Court of the United States | 1978-1979 |
| Special assistant attorney general, U.S. Department of Justice | 1979-1981 |
| Private practice, Washington, D.C. | 1981-1989, 1992-1993 |
| Assistant U.S. attorney, District of Columbia | 1989-1992 |
| Deputy assistant attorney general, Criminal Division, U.S. Department of Justice | 1993-1994 |
| Principal associate deputy attorney general, U.S. Department of Justice | 1994-1997 |
| Member, Judicial Conference of the United States | 2013-2020 |
| Attorney General of the United States | 2021- |
Judicial Record
In our data, Garland authored 1 published opinion for the court (2011). Most cited: Little v. King (1 citation).
Published, precedential opinions from the CourtListener corpus. Counts and rankings are objective and recomputable: how we count. We describe the record, not the judge.
Selected opinions
| Year | Case | Citation | Cited |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Little v. King | 768 F. Supp. 2d 56 | 1 |
Showing the 1 most-cited of 1 authored opinions in our data. “Cited” is inbound citations across the CourtListener corpus. Case links open the ruling’s full text (CourtListener) or its page here; read the methodology and verify against the primary source.
Questions & answers
- Who appointed Merrick B. Garland?
- President William J. Clinton appointed Merrick B. Garland to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in 1997.
- Was Merrick B. Garland appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
- Merrick B. Garland was appointed by President William J. Clinton, a Democrat. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
- What was Merrick B. Garland's confirmation vote?
- The Senate confirmed Merrick B. Garland 76–23 on March 19, 1997.
- Which court was Merrick B. Garland on?
- Merrick B. Garland was a Judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
Sources
Each fact on this page traces to a primary public record.
- FJC Biographical Directory
- Wikidata
- Portrait: United States Department of Justice (Public domain), via Wikimedia Commons
- Confirmation roll-call (Senate.gov, 1997)
- CourtListener bulk data (Free Law Project): authored opinions & citation counts
How we source & reconcile data → Data & Sources
See something wrong? Report an error. Fixes are logged in the corrections log.
23 years on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Data as of 2026-09-28. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).