What Data Science Reveals About Obama’s SCOTUS Nominee

Much can be learned about Merrick Garland, announced as President Barack Obama’s nominee to fill the Supreme Court slot left empty after the death of Justice Antonin Scalia, by examining his more than 300 opinions. Data scientists at Raveler analyzed Garland using their Judge Analytics platform, and found that Garland cited a mix of judges nominated by both Democrats and Republicans. “His citations of Supreme Court justices also point to a centrist judicial philosophy not ruled by sweeping pronouncements,” Reveler wrote. “For every conservative judge he cites often (Rehnquist), he counters with a liberal one (Stevens).” And the science revealed that, statistically, Garland was the most influential judge on Obama’s shortlist for the nomination.