The role of the court is to apply law to the facts of the case before it … not to legislate, not to arrogate to itself the executive power, not to hand down advisory opinion on the issues of the day.

— Merrick Garland Confirmation hearing on nomination to United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (1995)

Notes from Wikiquote

and also excerpted quote from this source, next cited in

Remarks by Judge Garland upon nomination to Supreme Court of the United States (2016)

Remarks by Judge Garland upon nomination to Supreme Court of the United States (2016)

Confirmation hearing on nomination to United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (1995)

Remarks on the search of Donald Trump's mansion (2022)

Remarks on the search of Donald Trump's mansion (2022)

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Merrick Garland (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.