Fordham Law alumni Derick Dailey ’17 and Brandon Ruben ’16 co-authored an op-ed, published in Law360, on criminal justice reform and the impact Merrick Garland’s appointment to Attorney General could have on the legal system.
Last week, the Senate Judiciary Committee advanced to the full Senate the nomination of Judge Merrick Garland, President Joe Biden’s pick to lead the U.S. Department of Justice as attorney general.
For those, like us, seeking transformation of our racially fraught criminal legal institutions, Judge Garland is an encouraging choice. By his own words,[1] he is committed to holding white supremacists and others accountable for the Jan. 6 terrorist attack on the U.S. Capitol, and he has a history of prosecuting white extremism.[2] Even more encouraging are Biden’s nominations of civil rights lawyers Vanita Gupta and Kristen Clarke as associate attorney general and chief of the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division, respectively.[3]
But let’s be clear: The president and the DOJ, no matter how forward-thinking, cannot transform America’s criminal legal landscape.