More than a dozen West Virginia University law professors joined in writing a letter to Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, urging her and her Republican colleagues in the Senate to vote on the president's nomination to fill the U.S. Supreme Court vacancy.
Republican senators refusal to consider Chief U.S. Judge Merrick B. Garland for the appointment is unconstitutional, reads the letter sent to Capito last week from 15 WVU College of Law professors.
Republican senators have vowed not to give Garland, who President Barack Obama named as his appointment in mid-March, a hearing, saying the appointment should be made by whoever wins the November presidential election.
Noting they are constitutional scholars, the professors wrote, however, that "There is no exception that allows senators to withhold advice and consent during a presidential election year, and there is ample time remaining to complete the confirmation process."
In an emailed statement Tuesday about the letter, a spokeswoman for Capito said that the senator wouldn't be changing her mind.
"Senator Capito has clearly stated her position on the Supreme Court nominee. She continues to believe that the best path forward is to allow West Virginians to weigh in and await the result of the election before a Supreme Court nominee is confirmed," the statement reads.
U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., has said he doesn't understand why Republican senators won't meet with Garland, who has served 19 years on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
"Chief Judge Garland's fitness to serve on the Supreme Court is unquestioned," the professors wrote.
Garland "has demonstrated an exemplary judicial temperament, acute intelligence, and an unwavering commitment to impartiality, fairness, and the rule of law," the professors wrote.
Nearly 300 days remain in Obama's term, said Alison Peck, one of the professors who sent the letter.
"If the Senate can refuse to perform its constitutional role during the last 300 days of a president's term, logically it could also refuse to act during a president's last 600 days, or last 1,200, or indeed, all 1,460," said Peck.
The professors note that they signed the letter as West Virginia citizens and that their opinion shouldn't reflect that of WVU or the law school. They include: Gerald Ashdown, Robert Bastress, Valena Beety, Valarie Blake, Michael Blumenthal, Charles DiSalvo, Atiba Ellis, Anne Lofaso, Joshua Fershee, Kendra Huard Fershee, Marjorie McDiarmid, Patrick McGinley, Alison Peck, John Taylor, Matthew Titolo and Suzanne Weise.
Read the letter at www.afj.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/WVU-Law-Professor-letter.pdf.
Reach Kate White at kate.white@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-1723 or follow @KateLWhite on Twitter.