Black box: Merrick Garland an unknown quantity on tech issues

President Barack Obama's nominee for the US Supreme Court, if approved, would have the chance to vote on some of the most important issues facing the technology industry in years. Does Silicon Valley, then, have a friend in Judge Merrick Garland? It's hard to know.

Based on an analysis of his public speeches and previous decisions, Judge Garland appears to be a moderate who balances the government's rights with those of the people -- and who has been inclined to rule against businesses when they're challenged by individuals. But that doesn't mean Silicon Valley can count him as an ally. Justices on the Supreme Court have a history of shifting from perceived camps. "Once someone gets on there and they have a lifetime appointment, I just don't know that you can ever really know what they're going to do," said Elizabeth Pipkin, a lawyer in Silicon Valley. On the one hand, Judge Garland has a history of ruling in favor of law enforcement in Fourth Amendment challenges to warrantless searches and arrests. On the other hand, he's made significant rulings in favor of government transparency, siding with the ACLU in its quest to obtain the CIA's drone records in 2013. What's more, the former prosecutor has a lot of experience dealing with terrorism. Judge Garland investigated the convicted terrorist Ted Kaczynski while working for the Justice Department, and he saw the aftermath of the Oklahoma City (OK) bombing first-hand while investigating that attack's perpetrator, Timothy McVeigh. He also ruled twice as an appellate judge to allow lawsuits against foreign terrorists to be heard on US soil.