New SCOTUS Justice Elena Kagan

[Obama 2012 1,714]

http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/05/10/scotus.kagan/index.html?hpt=T1

Washington (CNN) -- President Obama plans to name Solicitor General Elena Kagan on Monday as his nominee to replace retiring Justice John Paul Stevens on the Supreme Court, two sources close to the process told CNN.

The president plans to make the announcement at the White House at 10 a.m. ET.

CNN will cover the announcement live online, on television and on the iPhone.

Kagan, 50, a New York native, has been widely reported to be the front-runner for the nomination. She was a finalist for the high court vacancy last year when Justice Sonia Sotomayor was selected to replace the retiring David Souter.

If confirmed, Kagan would be the third woman on the nine-justice bench and the fourth in the history of the court. Her confirmation also would mean that the Supreme Court would have no Protestant justices for the first time in its history. Kagan, who is Jewish, would join six Catholic and two Jewish justices; Stevens is Protestant.

Kagan received her law degree from Harvard University, where she later served as dean of the law school. She previously served in the Clinton administration as associate White House counsel.

Obama decided on Kagan as his nominee on Sunday and called her around 8 p.m., a source close to the process said.

He did not have to look far when considering Kagan. As solicitor general, she is the administration's top lawyer before the Supreme Court and has argued several high-profile cases before the justices since taking the job in spring 2009.

"You have to admit, Elena Kagan is a brilliant woman," Sen. Orrin Hatch, a Republican on the Judiciary Committee, said during a radio interview a year ago when Kagan was being vetted for a high court seat. "She is a brilliant lawyer. If [Obama] picks her, it is a real dilemma for people," especially conservatives.

"And she will undoubtedly say that she will abide by the rule of law."

Her confirmation hearings for the solicitor general job could offer a preview of what she can expect from both Democrats and Republicans. Many saw it as a dress rehearsal of sorts for a high court job.

GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham told Kagan she presented a "positive impression." Democrats were similarly enthused.

With that endorsement, she won confirmation for her current job by a 61-31 vote.

A number of conservative groups were less enamored.

"Among Supreme Court nominees over the last 50 years or more, Kagan may well be the nominee with the least amount of relevant experience," said Ed Whelan, president of the Ethics and Public Policy Center, former law clerk for Justice Antonin Scalia, and former counsel to the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Kagan had never argued a case before the Supreme Court or any appeals court before she became solicitor general about a year ago.

"Solicitor General Kagan has been nominated with no judicial experience, a mere two years of private law practice, and only a year as solicitor general of the United States," said David McIntosh, co-founder of the Federalist Society -- a conservative and libertarian legal group -- and former congressman from Indiana. "She is one of the most inexperienced nominees to the U.S. Supreme Court in recent memory."

Kagan's position on gays in the military is virtually certain to generate controversy during her confirmation hearings. She has been strongly criticized by conservatives for her efforts to block military recruiters from Harvard because of the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy. The policy, first enacted during the Clinton administration but opposed by Obama, prohibits homosexuals from serving openly in the armed forces.

While serving as dean at Harvard Law, Kagan said she "abhorred" the military's "discriminatory recruitment policy." She called it "a profound wrong -- a moral injustice of the first order."

Kagan supported other schools challenging a federal law requiring them to give recruiters equal access or face the loss of federal funding. The Supreme Court unanimously upheld the law in 2006.

Some liberal organizations, on the other hand, have expressed concern over Kagan's views on executive power. As chief defender of the administration's anti-terrorism strategy, Kagan has articulated a more robust defense of the White House than many civil rights and human rights groups would like.

Observers on both sides of the political aisle have noted that Kagan has a relatively short paper trail compared to other recent Supreme Court nominees.

Kagan grew up in a Jewish household on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. She went to Princeton University and Harvard Law School. She served as a law clerk for federal judge Abner Mikva and then for Justice Thurgood Marshall on the high court.

In her 1986 job application to Marshall, she matter-of-factly told the civil rights pioneer, "I would be honored to serve as your clerk." The nation's first African-American justice affectionately called the diminutive Kagan "Shorty."

Kagan later went into teaching, starting at the University of Chicago, where one of the part-time faculty was Obama. Also teaching at the time was Diane Wood, who later became a federal judge and also was a finalist for the current high court vacancy. Kagan and Wood were among the few women on the full-time faculty at that time.

President Clinton later named Kagan associate White House counsel and then appointed her to the influential Domestic Policy Council, where she earned a reputation for articulate and well-reasoned statements on tricky political issues. She was the administration's point person on passing anti-tobacco legislation, negotiating in 1998 with Republican Sen. John McCain to give the federal government the authority to control cigarettes, as it does pharmaceuticals and medical devices.

Clinton picked her in 1999 for the powerful U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. But no Senate confirmation hearings were held, and the nomination lapsed. The seat was later filled by John Roberts, who quickly used the appointment as a springboard to chief justice.

Named Harvard's dean in 2003, Kagan earned a reputation for soothing longstanding tensions over a perceived liberal tilt to the faculty and curriculum.

She began pushing for the appointment of conservative professors, including Jack Goldsmith, who had been a lawyer in President George W. Bush's Justice Department. Such hires eased ideological unrest on the Harvard campus.

[Ban Hammer 12,837]

little to no experience? just like obama!

[Dan J 277]

You mean not enough of a record to find something you can criticize. She has the credentials, but that wont matter to you if she isn't conservative enough in her decisions.

[Obama 2012 1,714]

You mean not enough of a record to find something you can criticize. She has the credentials, but that wont matter to you if she isn't conservative enough in her decisions.

A justice should not be conservative. A justice should not be liberal.

A justice should be willing to uphold the constitution as it stands. Not take it into their own 'heart' about how they 'feel' about it.

[The_Dude 1,142]

Oh noes, no wasp on the SCOTUS? America is sure to crumble.

[Dan J 277]

A justice should not be conservative. A justice should not be liberal.

A justice should be willing to uphold the constitution as it stands. Not take it into their own 'heart' about how they 'feel' about it.

When people say they want a conservative judge, they don't mean someone who interprets the constitution strictly in the context it was written in late 1700's. But someone who will make decisions upholding current conservative political values. Which in comparison to when it was written, is liberal anyway.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

Two related articles on the nomination:

First, it was just opposition regardless of who the nominee would be:

Republicans Insert Name ‘Kagan’ into Speeches Opposing Obama’s Supreme Court Pick

New iPhone App Generates GOP Rhetoric

WASHINGTON – Moments after news of President Obama’s choice for Supreme Court justice spread across Washington, congressional Republicans rushed to insert the name “Elena Kagan” into speeches opposing the President’s judicial nominee.

In the text of a speech released Sunday, hours before Ms. Kagan was selected, House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) states, “I opposed the nomination of BLANK because I believe BLANK would lead the court down a dangerous path towards judicial activism. In short, I cannot think of a worse choice for Supreme Court than BLANK.”

The anti-Kagan rhetoric was generated last week before Ms. Kagan was nominated, GOP insiders said, by using a new iPhone app called iOppose.

But - surprise, surprise - at least they come up with an alternative this time...

Citing Kagan’s Lack of Judging Experience, GOP Proposes Paula Abdul Republicans Show Support for ‘Idol’ Star

WASHINGTON – Howling in protest over Obama Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan’s lack of judging experience, leading Republicans today urged the President to withdraw Kagan and instead nominate Paula Abdul.

“The American people have had years of watching Paula’s judging expertise, and they know that she is fair,” said Sen. Jeff Sessions (R., Ala.), top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee. “She’s certainly fairer than Simon.”

As to the criticism that sometimes on “American Idol” Ms. Abdul seemed to be not all there and had nothing to say, Sen. Sessions said, “You could say the same thing about Clarence Thomas

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

Jon Lovitz changed his name?

[Pooky 3,348]

But - surprise, surprise - at least they come up with an alternative this time...

Citing Kagan’s Lack of Judging Experience, GOP Proposes Paula Abdul. Republicans Show Support for ‘Idol’ Star.

WASHINGTON – Howling in protest over Obama Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan’s lack of judging experience, leading Republicans today urged the President to withdraw Kagan and instead nominate Paula Abdul.

“The American people have had years of watching Paula’s judging expertise, and they know that she is fair,” said Sen. Jeff Sessions (R., Ala.), top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee. “She’s certainly fairer than Simon.”

As to the criticism that sometimes on “American Idol” Ms. Abdul seemed to be not all there and had nothing to say, Sen. Sessions said, “You could say the same thing about Clarence Thomas

Please tell me we haven't time-warped back to April 1st.