|  When Elena Kagan is confirmed as the newest Supreme, she will be the youngest justice on the current bench, at 50. Roberts and Sotomayor are both 55. Her addition to SCOTUS will lead to 3 women and 6 men, an all-time high for concurrent women. In addition, this will leave no Protestants on the bench, the composition will be all Jews (3) and Catholics (6). An interesting development for those Evangelicals who consider America to be "a Christian nation" and Catholics to not be "Christian".
A full biography is available here. It's worth the read to see how smart and interesting she is. The same rumour mill that predicted she would be announced on Friday indicates that after some huffing and puffing, Republicans will find her confirmable, and when hearings are held in July, she will be confirmed and ready to be seated the first Monday in October. From Playbook: WHAT ALLIES WILL SAY: Kagan has a lifetime of public service stemming from the values her parents (mom a public school teacher, dad a lawyer who fought for tenants against big landlords). She's exceptionally capable at building coalitions and bringing people together -- an effective counterweight to Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Scalia, and could help bring swing Justice Kennedy into coalitions. She's a trailblazer – the first woman dean of Harvard Law School, and first woman Solicitor General. Not just another appellate judge – outside 'the 'judicial monastery.' Gets along with Justice Scalia in social settings, and has a nice banter with him during arguments. These two will be big: 1) As a Clinton Justice Department official, she worked with Sen. John McCain in negotiating anti-tobacco legislation. 2) In her current job, she argued the administration side in Citizens United, the decision that opened campaigns to more corporate funding. Even though she lost, Dems will argue during her confirmation hearing that the Roberts court is rolling back rights, benefiting corporate interests.
WHAT CRITICS WILL SAY: She has no judicial experience -- not a day in a robe. While Kagan can be expected to follow the lead of many of Obama's judicial nominees and disavow her record of liberal activism, her record shows that she can become emotionally involved on issues she deeply cares about and there is nothing in her record to suggest she has the proper temperament to be a judge. When Kagan was dean of Harvard Law School, she was a tireless advocate for the university's decision to ban military recruiters from the school's campus because of 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell.' Her record is one of an advocate and an activist, not of a fair-minded, impartial judge. President Obama and Kagan are going to be asking Americans to take her at her word in the hearings, ignoring her previous writings and advocacy efforts. The irony is that Obama's biggest problems might come from his left. Several liberal scholars have come out aggressively against Kagan for her support of providing law enforcement, intelligence and military officials the tools necessary to effectively fight the war on terror.
REBUTTAL: She would have had 10 years on the 2nd Circuit if Republicans hadn't held up her nomination for two years. And the last justice to become a Supreme without judicial experience was a certain William Rehnquist, who went onto the bench directly from the Justice Department.
UPDATE: Nomination will be at 10 a.m. in the East Room |
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