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Republicans Press Supreme Court Nominee on Legal Views

   Jim Malone | Washington 29 June 2010
   Supreme  Court  nominee  Elena  Kagan testifies on Capitol Hill 29 Jun
   2010, before the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on her nomination

Photo: AP

   Supreme  Court  nominee  Elena  Kagan testifies on Capitol Hill 29 Jun
   2010, before the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on her nomination

   Confirmation  hearings  continued  Tuesday  for Elena Kagan, President
   Barack  Obama's  nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court.  Tuesday was the
   first  day that members of the Senate Judiciary Committee were able to
   question Kagan.
   On  the  second day of hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee,
   opposition  Republicans  asked Elena Kagan about her political beliefs
   and whether her own views would influence her work as a justice on the
   Supreme Court.
   Kagan  sought  to  assure them that even though she has worked for two
   Democratic  presidents,  her  personal  political views would not be a
   factor in judging legal questions. Â
   "I'm  not  quite  sure  how  I would characterize my politics, but one
   thing  I  do  know  is that my politics would be, must be, have to be,
   completely separate from my judging," she said.
   If confirmed, Kagan would replace retired Justice John Paul Stevens, a
   leading liberal thinker on the high court for decades.
   The  top  Republican on the Judiciary Committee, Senator Jeff Sessions
   of Alabama, pressed Kagan on whether she agreed with his view that she
   was  a legal progressive.  Kagan said she wasn't sure what that label
   meant.
   Senator  Sessions also asked Kagan about her tenure as dean of Harvard
   University  Law  School and allegations that she was anti-military for
   placing restrictions on military recruiters operating on campus.
   Kagan  says  the  limits  on  recruiting  were  justified  because the
   military's  so-called  don't  ask  don't tell policy barring gays from
   openly   serving  in  the  armed  forces  violated  the  law  school's
   anti-discrimination policy.
   This is part of that exchange.
   SESSIONS:Â  "Some of the military veterans, when they met with you the
   first time, expressed concern about an increasingly hostile atmosphere
   on  the  campus  against  the  military.  Didn't they express that to
   you?"
   KAGAN:Â   "Senator Sessions, I think, as I said to Senator Leahy, that
   I  tried in every way I could throughout this process to make clear to
   all  our  students,  not just to the veterans but to all our students,
   how much I valued their service."
   At other times, Kagan sought to avoid direct answers and even injected
   a little humor into the otherwise serious legal and political back and
   forth,  as she did in this exchange with Republican Senator Jon Kyl of
   Arizona.
   KYL:Â   "Do  you  agree  with  the  characterization  by  some  of  my
   colleagues  that  the  current court is too activist in supporting the
   position of corporations and big business?"
   KAGAN:Â   "Senator  Kyl,  I would not want to characterize the current
   court in any way.  I hope one day to join it."
   KYL:  [LAUGHTER] "And they said you are not political!  Right!"
   Kagan  did  say  she  favored  televising the oral arguments that take
   place before the Supreme Court, something the current court has so far
   opposed.   Kagan  said  televising the proceedings would be great for
   the court and the country.
   Unless there are new developments that come out at the hearings, it is
   likely  that  Kagan  will  be  confirmed  and become President Obama's
   second  appointee  to  the  high  court, following in the footsteps of
   Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who joined the court last year.
   If  confirmed,  Kagan  would  become  the  third  woman on the current
   nine-member Supreme Court.

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