Legal News

Maine Sen. Snowe lauds high court nominee Kagan

By (Breaking Legal News)

Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan criticized a campaign finance ruling in a case she argued for the Obama administration and considers abortion rights to be settled law, according to a GOP senator who met with her Thursday.

Maine Sen. Olympia Snowe, asked whether Republicans could support Kagan, said the nominee "certainly has the qualifications, and certainly has, I think, the balance in her approach ? at least so far ? but I'd like to wait and see."

In their private meeting, Kagan stressed the importance of judicial restraint and deference to Congress by the high court, and discussed abortion rights, Snowe said. The senator was one of seven Republicans who joined Democrats last year in voting to confirm Kagan as solicitor general, the top government lawyer who argues the administration's cases before the Supreme Court.

Abortion rights supporters are concerned about a memo Kagan wrote as a White House aide in 1997 urging President Bill Clinton to back a ban on late-term abortions.

Senators also are awaiting another 160,000 pages of documents from Kagan's tenure on the Clinton White House staff that are being organized for release at the Clinton presidential library in Little Rock, Ark. Republicans have complained that they aren't likely to come in time for thorough scrutiny before confirmation hearings begin June 28.

Full post as published by Breaking Legal News on May 21, 2010 (boomark / email).