The Supreme Court's justices are reportedly wary to speak out about high court nominee Merrick Garland amid the increasingly contentious political fray over a replacement for the late conservative Justice Antonin Scalia.
The Washington Post reports no justice have said a word about the Republican Senate's refusal to consider President Barack Obama's nominee in this election year — nor have they commented specifically about Garland's qualifications for the job.
"I think their inclination would be to avoid doing anything that takes sides in this political fight," University of Chicago law professor David Strauss tells the Post.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Charles Grassley has already
warned Chief Justice John Roberts to stay out of it, angry over remarks he made about a politicized nomination process even before Scalia died.
And even though
Justice Sonia Sotomayor took a jab at the high court's lack of diversity during a speech last week at Brooklyn Law School, there was no mention of Garland specifically, or the GOP's leadership plan to do nothing about the nomination in an election year.
Kagan also refused to talk about Garland, who is a friend from their alma mater, Harvard Law School, at an appearance at New York University Law School, the Post reports.
According to the Post, Justice Stephen Breyer has also rebuffed questions about the nomination process in appearances since Scalia's death, and Justice Samuel Alito told students at Georgetown Law School the court has had an even number of justices before and "we will deal with it."
The Post reports the high court justices are not always reluctant to speak up about a nominee, as Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg did for Sotomayor before she was confirmed in 2009.
Though Grassley scolded Roberts about talking about politics and the court, the chief justice hasn't said anything about the opening left by Scalia since his death, the Post notes.
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