Supreme Court Nominee Merrick Garland Advises Graduates on Facing ‘Twists and Turns’
|
Version 0 of 1. SKOKIE, Ill. — President Obama’s Supreme Court nominee, Merrick B. Garland, returned to his high school on Sunday and told its graduates that they must learn to deal with the unexpected. “When you are facing the unanticipated twists and turns life will surely take, when the bad things happen, it can be a tremendous solace to get outside yourself and focus on someone else,” Judge Garland said during a 15-minute commencement speech at his alma mater, Niles West High School in Skokie, a northern suburb of Chicago. Judge Garland, the chief judge for the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit and a 1970 graduate of Niles West, was selected in March by Mr. Obama to fill the Supreme Court seat left vacant after the death of Justice Antonin Scalia. Republicans leaders in the Senate, however, have vowed not to hold hearings or a confirmation vote until a new president takes office. On Sunday, Judge Garland stayed away from addressing his own “twists and turns” of the partisan divide over his nomination, focusing instead on the values that he learned while a standout student in Skokie. He encouraged graduates to consider going into public service. “I owe this place a lot,” Judge Garland said as he praised Niles West for instilling in him a sense of community and reinforcing teachings from his parents about an obligation to give back to society. Judge Garland has spent much of his career in public service, including a lead role in the investigation of the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing and 20 years on the appeals court. Describing the most rewarding moments from his time in Washington, he pointed to his 18 years tutoring children at J. O. Wilson Elementary School in the northeastern part of the city. “The most personally rewarding experiences in my career,” Judge Garland said, “have not been high-profile cases I’ve investigated or legal disputes I’ve resolved.” The class speaker, Thea Gonzales, said she was glad Judge Garland had focused on the students instead of his own situation, calling it an example of his emphasis on public service. “It showed that he cared more about the school and where the school was going,” said Ms. Gonzales, 17. “Case in point — he was focusing outward.” “When you fail, what people are going to remember is your response,” Ms. Gonzales said in her own speech to the graduates, a sentiment in line with Judge Garland’s message. “And if you want to be someone remembered as a survivor, you have to find strength.” Before the ceremony, Ali Lueder, 30, of Morton Grove, who graduated from Niles West in 2003, stood outside the field, passing out tickets to members of her family there to see her younger brother walk across the stage. She acknowledged that despite Judge Garland’s record of success and the respect he had garnered from politicians and in legal circles, he might not join the Supreme Court. “He has done the right things, and he probably wants to continue to do the right things,” Ms. Lueder said. “We just hope it works out for him.” |