Litigation

Kagan Hearings to be Substance, or Theater?

By Peter Hardin

On the eve of Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan?s nomination hearing, her own 1995 critique of the ?hollow charade? and ?ritual dance? of such politically driven proceedings has led to questioning whether this one would be different.

A preview article in USA Today underscored Kagan?s writing 15 years ago that a Supreme Court confirmation hearing is the time for the public to learn something significant about a Supreme Court nominee, for the individual is bound for a lifelong ?seat of power and a public trust.?

?As her own hearings being Monday, the challenge for Kagan?will be to follow that ideal without sparking new criticism and derailing her nomination,? reporter Joan Biskupic wrote.

The former Harvard Law School dean, picked earlier by President Obama as his solicitor general, has not been a judge.  Her paper trail was limited when Obama announced her nomination to succeed retiring Justice John Paul Stevens, but thousands of pages of documents released subsequently have provided ammunition for critics and defenders.

Republicans have begun intensifying their attacks, drawing on the documents that have been released; Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell portrayed her as a “political operative” in a Senate floor speech, according to a New York Times article.

?These memos and notes reveal a woman whose approach to the law was as a political advocate ? the very opposite of what the American people expect in a judge,? McConnell said.

Her defenders, too, have ratcheted up their response, contending that Republicans are twisting her record.

?Republicans are getting increasingly desperate,? White House spokesman Ben LaBolt said, replying that as a legal adviser in the Clinton White House, Kagan was giving her boss  ?legal and policy options that reflected the president?s well-established views.?

Meanwhile, the American Bar Association handed Kagan its highest rating of well qualified, in a unanimous decision, Bloomberg reported. The ABA is a partner of Justice at Stake. Sen. Patrick Leahy, the Senate Judiciary Committee chairman, said the ABA rating ?is further evidence of Elena Kagan?s qualifications to serve as an independent justice.”

In other previews of the Kagan hearings, Politics Daily examined what the  most likely hot issues will be, and the Associated Press looked at how her experience as a teacher may have prepared her for service on the high court.

A poll released by C-SPAN showed how few Americans know who Kagan is. When pollsters asked,  “Can you identify the individual just named by President Obama to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court?” only 19 percent could identify Kagan, according to a post in The Blog of Legal Times.

To find out more about Kagan and the nomination process, check out Gavel Grab or Justice at Stake?s ?Replacing Justice Stevens? page.

Full post as published by The Gavel on June 25, 2010 (boomark / email).