NPR's Ari Shapiro talks to attorney Jamie Gorelick, who worked closely with Merrick Garland in the Bill Clinton-era Justice Department, about his background and record.
Elected prosecutors are now losing their jobs for failing to throw the book at police in shootings. Voters booted out of office the county district attorney who didn't file charges against the Cleveland officer who shot Tamir Rice. The same fate met the state's attorney in Chicago, who brought charges only after a video of an officer-involved shooting was made public by court order. Some criminologists say it also reflects a deeper shift by the public, one that is moving away from the harsh prosecutorial stances of the past.
President Obama has settled on Judge Merrick Garland to replace the late Justice Antonin Scalia on the Supreme Court. Garland was approved for confirmation to the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., by the Senate in 1997, and he is widely viewed as a moderate. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell repeated his pledge that the Senate would not take any steps toward confirming Obama's nominee, setting up a judicial confirmation fight that will now take center stage in the current election drama.
NPR's Robert Siegel talks with Republican Sen. Susan Collins about her reactions to President Obama's nominee to succeed the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia.
Merrick Garland has cited his time as federal prosecutor in the Oklahoma City bombing case as the most important event of his career. It's also the first time NPR listeners heard him on our air. Our "First Mention" series takes us back to that report from April 28, 1995.
The top soccer organization argues that a group of leaders facing trial in the U.S. has cost it millions in financial losses and damage to its reputation.
In a new book, Shaka Senghor describes 19 years in prison and how he transformed himself into an advocate for inmates and a spokesman for the idea that people can change.
President Obama nominated Judge Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court. NPR's Ron Elving says Garland has been held up as an "exemplar of the kind of person who ought to be" in these positions.
