Garth was born in Brooklyn, New York, and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree from Columbia University in 1942.
[1] He served during World War II as a United States Army Lieutenant from 1943 to 1946.
[2] On July 19, 1973, President Nixon nominated Garth to a seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit vacated by Judge James Rosen.
This decision was reversed by the United States Supreme Court in American Manufacturers Mutual Insurance Company v. Sullivan, 526 U.S. 40 (1999).
[4] Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito clerked for Garth from 1976 to 1977 in his first job out of law school.