The Republican Senators, led by Mitch McConnel, have refused to perform their constitutional duty of giving "advice and consent" to President Obama concerning his nomination of Judge Merrick Garland. The Republican Senators, even those who met with Judge Garland and found him to be highly qualified, have blocked the nominating process for the past 8 months!

Garland has a reputation as a judicial moderate renowned for his fairness and experience, who has the enormous respect of all his most conservative colleagues on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, where he is the chief judge.

He has more federal judicial experience than any nominee in history. He also was a prominent federal prosecutor, overseeing the convictions of Oklahoma City bombers Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols.

That prosecutorial outlook often does show up in his decisions. When reviewing Garland's judicial career, SCOTUSblog's Tom Goldstein wrote, "Most striking, in 10 criminal cases, Judge Garland has disagreed with his more-liberal colleagues; in each, he adopted the position that was more favorable to the government or declined to reach a question on which the majority of the court had adopted a position favorable to a defendant."

The Republican argument was that the American people (not the President, as outlined in the Constitution) should have a say in who is the next Supreme Court Justice. Hillary Clinton received the highest percentage of votes in the 2016 Presidential Election and while she will not be the 45th President of the United States, she (a lawyer herself) has fully supported Judge Garland's nomination.

I ask that you sign this petition, but also that you contact your Senators directly, in order to push for a hearing for the most experienced nominee in history. Furthermore, I ask that they filibuster any other nominee until Judge Garland has received a fair hearing. If GOP Senators can obstruct this court appointment, Democrats (and Independents) can and should do the same thing.

Please remember to call, write and e-mail your Senators in addition to signing this petition!