Judge Starr Personal Statement on Nomination of Judge Merrick Garland to the U.S. Supreme Court

March 16, 2016

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WACO, Texas (March 16, 2016) - Judge Ken Starr released a personal statement today regarding President Obama's nomination of Judge Merrick B. Garland, chief judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, to fill the vacant seat on the Supreme Court of the United States. The seat on the nation's highest Court was occupied by the late Justice Antonin Scalia, who died on Feb. 12.

  • "The President has made a very wise choice. Chief Judge Garland is a brilliant jurist who believes in and upholds the rule of law undergirding our constitutional republic. I have known him well for many years. He is superbly qualified to serve on our nation's highest court." – Judge Ken Starr

The view expressed belongs to Judge Ken Starr and is not attributed to Baylor University.

ABOUT JUDGE KEN STARR

Judge Starr has argued 36 cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, including 25 cases during his service as Solicitor General of the United States from 1989-93. He also served as United States Circuit Judge for the District of Columbia Circuit from 1983 to 1989, as law clerk to Chief Justice Warren E. Burger from 1975 to 1977 and as law clerk to Fifth Circuit Judge David W. Dyer from 1973 to 1974.

Prior to coming to Baylor, Judge Starr served for six years as The Duane and Kelly Roberts Dean and Professor of Law at Pepperdine, where he taught current constitutional issues and civil procedure. He has also been of counsel to the law firm of Kirkland & Ellis LLP, where he was a partner from 1993 to 2004, specializing in appellate work, antitrust, federal courts, federal jurisdiction and constitutional law.

Judge Starr previously taught constitutional law as an adjunct professor at New York University School of Law and was a distinguished visiting professor at George Mason University School of Law and Chapman Law School. He is admitted to practice in California, the District of Columbia, Virginia and the U.S. Supreme Court.

He is the author of more than 25 publications, and his book, "First Among Equals: The Supreme Court in American Life," published in 2002.

Judge Starr began his service as the 14th president to serve Baylor University on June 1, 2010, and was named to the position of President and Chancellor on Nov. 11, 2013. He also serves on the faculty of Baylor Law School as The Louise L. Morrison Chair of Constitutional Law and teaches a seminar on current Constitutional issues.