Litigation

Kagan Pledges Judicial ?Modesty? if Confirmed

By Peter Hardin

Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan vowed Monday that if confirmed, she would defer properly to Congress and strive to  “consider every case impartially, modestly, with commitment to principle and in accordance with law.”

In prepared remarks for her confirmation hearing, which got under way at mid-day, the former Harvard Law School dean said the Supreme Court must ensure the government does not violate individuals’ rights. “But the court must also recognize the limits on itself and respect the choices made by the American people,” she said, according to the Associated Press.

Kagan visited President Obama in the Oval Office before she arrived at Capitol Hill. After he took office, Obama selected her as the nation’s first female solicitor general.

Kagan was to deliver her own opening statement to the Senate Judiciary Committee later today. Members of the committee opened the proceedings with debate over both her qualifications and the extent to which she should discuss her thinking on specific legal disputes.

?There are serious concerns about this nomination,? warned Sen. Jeff Sessions, the panel’s senior Republican, as quoted by Politico. ?Ms. Kagan has less real legal experience of any nominee in at least 50 years?.What Ms. Kagan’s public record does reveal is a more extensive background in policy, politics, mixed with law.?

?Will the Constitution control her or will she try to control the Constitution?” Sen. Orrin Hatch, a Utah Republican, demanded.

The committee chairman, Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont, retorted that there was no reason to question Kagan’s integrity. “No one should presume that this intelligent woman who’s excelled during every part of her varied and distinguished career lacks independence,? Leahy said.

Leahy also launched an attack on the ?conservative judicial activism? of the current high court majority, a Newsweek article reported. In the Supreme Court’s landmark Citizens United decision, Leahy said, the majority  “rejected the Court?s own precedent, the bipartisan law enacted by Congress, and 100 years of legal developments in order to open the door for massive corporate spending on elections.?

Meanwhile Leahy urged openness and responsiveness by Kagan, but added that she ought not make promises regarding current legal controversies. ?No senator should seek to impose an ideological litmus test or to secure promises of specific outcomes in cases coming before the Supreme Court,? he said, according to a New York Times article.

On the other hand, Sen. Sessions said that because Kagan has not served as a judge and has more extensive experience in politics and policy making, it was especially important to hear her discuss specific views on the Constitution.

You can learn background about Kagan and her nomination from Gavel Grab and Justice at Stake’s ?Replacing Justice Stevens? page, and you can track her confirmation hearings by clicking on Justice at Stake?s Twitter page.

Full post as published by The Gavel on June 28, 2010 (boomark / email).