Obama Talks Merrick Garland at University of Chicago

CHICAGO, IL - President Barack Obama was in Chicago Thursday to discuss the U.S. Supreme Court appointment of Lincolnwood native Merrick Garland at the University of Chicago.

"Merrick Garland is an extraordinary jurist who is indisputably qualified to serve on the highest court of the land and nobody really argues otherwise," Obama told Law Professor David A. Strauss, who interviewed him at the U of C event in front of faculty, students and others with ties to the Hyde Park university.

"If the question is about qualification and excellence, it is uniformly viewed - not just by Democrats, but by Republicans, lawyers, everyone on the Supreme Court now - that he is as good a judge we have in the country right now."

The president described Garland - a 1970 graduate of Niles North High School in Skokie - as "fair, smart, objective" and one who "shows judicial restraint."

RELATED: Obama Shuts Down Traffic on Way to U of C

Obama later went on to say that the process of the sitting president nominating a Supreme Court Justice with the advice and consent of the Senate was once done without resistance unless the nominee was seen to have an issue in terms of character or qualifications.

"What's unique about this process," is that that process is being questioned, he said.

The University of Chicago Law School tweeted several of the more interesting statements the president made during the discussion, which included the Commander-in-Chief answering questions from students at the school.

One students showed concern that all the focus on the appointment of Garland might be taking away some of the president's time on criminal justice reform.

But Obama said that it hasn't, and that subject is actually being worked on by both Democrat and Republican members of Congress.

It has become a bipartisan issue, he says.

"You have fiscal conservatives who can see how expensive it is to keep someone in prison, libertarian strands of conservatives who think it is none of the government's business if someone is smoking pot and that we should not put them in prison for 20 years because of it...There's an evangelical movement centered on giving people second chances and a law enforcement point of view that realizes there's no way we are going to reduce recidivism if we let people out without any form of support."

On what another student described as a "polarizing" 2016 Presidential Election in both Democratic and Republican primaries, Obama said the disagreements that come from the two Democratic hopefuls are healthy and nothing like what is going on in the Republican primary.

"The Democratic disagreement is more about means and not ends," he said. "Both (candidates) believe every child should have healthcare and an education, they believe climate change is real and that we need to do something about it and support equality for LGBT people."

The danger behind the disagreement, whether it be in the same party or across the aisle in Congress, is that some are unwilling to make any sacrifices to move forward.

"That's a Tea Party mentality," he said. "A lot of the reason why some Democrats who have supported me are frustrated is because a good portion of the country does not agree with me and they have votes too. Just because you don't get everything you wanted does not mean that someone sold you out."

Senate Republicans have vowed not to consider Garland, the Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals, although Republican Illinois U.S. Senator Mark Kirk has met with the nominee. Reports have also surfaced that Republican Senator Lindsey Graham and some others plans to do the same.

The Supreme Court vacancy came in February when longtime Justice Antonin Scalia died in Texas. Obama announced the nomination of Garland on March 16.

Thursday's appearance in Chicago marked the first time Obama discussed the nomination of Garland since he made it last month. It came at the school where he taught law for 12 years and the neighborhood where he still owns a home.