Editorial: Merrick Garland, an impressive bastion of judicial independence

In a 1970 issue of the student newspaper at Niles West High School, senior Merrick Garland, the class valedictorian, offered the following advice to younger students:

“Be sure to be a monitor and get in control of the (mimeograph) room,” he wrote, “because the person who controls the mimeo room controls the school.”

Well, not quite. But, considering how Garland has ended up as the nation’s attorney general during some of the biggest legal firestorms since Watergate, it is just as well that he learned a few things at an early age about the power of the press.

And the White House.

Garland’s Justice Department is prosecuting both former President Donald Trump and the son of President Joe Biden. Four criminal indictments with a total of 91 felony charges have been filed against Trump this year — two on state charges in New York and Georgia and two on federal charges. Separately, President Biden is the subject of a special counsel investigation into whether he improperly held classified documents following his time as vice president, although the charges pale in comparison to Trump’s.

His son, Hunter Biden, is the target of a four-year investigation into the younger Biden’s business deals and taxes. He’s been indicted on the accusation that he lied about his drug abuse when he filed the required paperwork to buy himself a gun.

Now Republicans accuse special counsel David Weiss of slow-walking the Hunter Biden investigation.

In a rare — for him — sit-down interview on CBS’ “60 Minutes” that aired this past weekend, Garland denied that allegation, among other suspicions of partisanship or favoritism that have come from both political sides.

In a particularly striking, and cheering, statement, Garland said that unequivocally he would resign if asked by Biden to take action against Trump, the Republican presidential front-runner.

“I am sure that that will not happen, but I would not do anything in that regard,” he said. “And if necessary, I would resign.”

That’s serving notice on any overenthusiastic White House partisans, and there are such denizens, who might be thinking of whispering in Biden’s ear to put in a quiet call to the DOJ as an election heats up. They’re less likely to be doing that now.

The Trump and Biden investigations are being handled independently by special prosecutors, Garland also pointed out. Just to make his point clear.

In accordance with long-standing DOJ policy, Garland declined to discuss the particulars of the cases, except to declare, “We have only one rule: Follow the facts and the law, and we reach the decisions required by the Constitution, and we protect civil liberties.”

In other words, he pledged he would do his job without fear of, or favor to, either side of the aisle. Good for him. We expected no less.

Still, Garland’s reassuring pronouncements are especially impressive because if anyone has reason to be cynical about Washington politics, it is him.

Garland’s own nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court, after nearly two decades as a federal appeals court judge, was stalled by Republicans for a breathtaking 10 months until Trump was sworn in. Nevertheless, it is crucially important that he reassure the public since, as he also acknowledged, public trust is key to his effectiveness and the rule of law itself.

It was touching and appropriate that Garland said he devoted his life to the rule of law because of his family’s struggle to escape the Holocaust.

“When they got to the United States, the United States protected them,” he said. “It guaranteed that they could practice their religion, that they could vote, they could do all the things they thought a democracy would provide. That’s the difference between this country and many other countries. And it’s my responsibility, it’s the Justice Department’s responsibility, to ensure that that difference continues, that we protect each other.”

“I would say that’s why I devoted myself to the rule of law, to public service, to trying to ensure that the rule of law governs this country and continues to govern this country,” he added.

Those are stirring words from the good man from Lincolnwood. And we could all do to hear them more often from our political leaders in Washington. Democrats and Republicans alike.

Having overseen the Oklahoma City bombing case, Garland has been particularly concerned about political terrorism over the years. Biden as president-elect picked Garland for attorney general on the same day the Capitol was attacked. With charges brought against more than 1,100 people, so far, it is one of the largest investigations in the department’s history.

As these cases and others play out, Garland will continue to be one of the most powerful, and thus most watched, officials in Washington. But he has not been associated with the kinds of dubious ethical practices we have seen of late on the Supreme Court and, of course, in Congress. In his case, we cannot even imagine even a suggestion of them.

So far, Garland has shown himself to be the sort of sober, decent, evenhanded, nonideological law enforcer the job demands and the American people so badly need as we face down elections and depressing trials aplenty.

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