Merrick Garland, President Obama s choice to replace recently deceased Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, has a long record of public service as a judge and a lawyer. But his role in prosecuting the perpetrator of the worst domestic terror attack in American history stands out on his resume.Judge Garland was one of the lead prosecutors in the case of right-wing militia member Timothy McVeigh, who blew up the Oklahoma City federal building in 1995.Friends and former colleagues say that the Oklahoma City case in particular had a lasting emotional impact on Mr. Garland. At the time, he was the second-ranking figure in the office of the deputy attorney general, Jamie S. Gorelick, a job with broad responsibilities over the entire department. But, Ms. Gorelick recalled, he insisted that she send him to Oklahoma City to help begin the investigation in person. He not only volunteered,  Ms. Gorelick recalled,  he basically said,  You need to let me go.   The New York Times reports that once on the ground in Oklahoma, Judge Garland  worked tirelessly to help run the investigation  while  overseeing search warrants, interacting with other law enforcement agencies and meeting with surviving victims. Judge Garland discusses his work on the case and getting justice for the victims in a video released by the White House discussing his background.Garland eventually helped to select the trial team that prosecuted McVeigh in court, and supervised the case.In June of 1997, McVeigh was convicted of the bombing, which killed 168 people (including 19 children at a daycare center). He was sentenced to death and after spending 4 years in federal prison, McVeigh was executed via lethal injection in 2001.Despite his successful record in this prosecution (Garland was also involved in the case against the Unabomber), Republicans have so far vowed not to even give the nominee the courtesy of congressional hearings and an  up or down vote  that was given to the most recent nominees offered from both parties.Democrats have signaled that they plan to use this unprecedented obstruction in the fall campaign against Republicans in the Senate.Featured image via YouTube