Ethics

The President has emphasized the importance of ? and promised to appoint -- jurists having empathy for persons in different situations than themselves.  Much ridicule has been heaped on the President by his critics for this suggestion, but conservative and liberal commentators alike have called for empathy in a jurist.  See John T. Noonan, Jr. Persons and Masks of the Law (1976)

The question now is whether the President has delivered on this promise.

It is difficult to find many opportunities to show empathy as Solicitor General of the United States.  Being a law school dean, however, is different.  Questions I would ask include:

Did the Dean have empathy for the difficult experiences that some students have in law school, particularly in the first year, or did she attend mostly to students at the top of the class?

Did the Dean have empathy for untenured faculty members in challenging situations, such as women trying to raise families as well as do the work of law professors?

Did the Dean have empathy for persons who do not have access to legal services, as shown by personal pro bono work and commitment to pro bono programs at her law school?

I don?t know the answers with respect to Dean Kagan.  These, however, are a few of the questions I would ask