President Barack Obama has announced federal appeals court judge Merrick Garland as his nomination for the vacancy at the U.S. Supreme Court left by the passing away of Justice Antonin Scalia. Mass Live reports: The president, who appeared with Garland for the morning Rose Garden announcement, praised the 63-year-old Washington lawyer and jurist’s history of public service as a federal prosecutor, his work for the Department of Justice and as the chief judge for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Stressing that he took the nomination process seriously, Obama called Garland “the right man for the job,” adding that he was confirmed to the D.C. Circuit in 1997 with bipartisan support, including from several current Republicans senators. Garland, who is considered a moderate, has also garnered backing from members on both sides of the aisle during previous Supreme Court nomination discussions, the president said. He urged U.S. Senate lawmakers, who have said they would not consider the president’s pick to fill Scalia’s seat, to not play politics with judges. Obama raised concerns about the precedent such a move would set, arguing that the Senate’s failure to even hold a hearing on Garland’s nomination would indicate [...]