http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_obama_supreme_court
There are many moves that the Obama administration has made that have made me "nervous". This is another one of those moves. There are some key statements in this article that are worth noting. I understand that Elena Kagan is an extremely intelligent woman, but I question the Obama administration's motives behind her nomination for Supreme Court.
There are many moves that the Obama administration has made that have made me "nervous". This is another one of those moves. There are some key statements in this article that are worth noting. I understand that Elena Kagan is an extremely intelligent woman, but I question the Obama administration's motives behind her nomination for Supreme Court.
- [Obama] called her "my friend"
- Never a judge
- At 50 years old, Kagan would be the youngest justice on the court, which would give her the opportunity to extend Obama's legacy for a generation.
- Kagan would be the first justice without judicial experience in almost 40 years
- All of the three other finalists she beat out for the job are federal appeals court judges, and all nine of the current justices served on the federal bench before being elevated.
- Kagan's fate will be up to a Senate dominated by Democrats, who with 59 votes have more than enough to confirm her
- barring a surprise, Kagan is likely to emerge as a justice
- Supreme Court justices wield enormous power over the daily life of Americans. Any one of them can cast the deciding vote on matters of life and death, individual freedoms and government power. Presidents serve four-year terms; justices have tenure for life.
- Democrats went 15 years without a Supreme Court appointment until Obama chose federal appellate judge Sonia Sotomayor last year to succeed retiring Justice David Souter. Just 16 months in office, Obama has a second opportunity with Kagan, under different circumstances.
- she clerked for federal appeals court judge Abner Mikva, who later became an important political mentor to Obama in Chicago.
- Kagan and Obama both taught at the University of Chicago Law School in the early 1990s
- Rick Garnett, a professor of law and associate dean of University of Notre Dame Law School, voiced the concern of many conservatives. "Future elections might undo some of the president's policies, but his more liberal views about the Constitution, the powers of the national government, and the role of unelected federal judges, are now being locked in securely," Garnett said in a statement.
- She would be the third Jewish justice along with six Catholics. With Stevens' retirement, the court will have no Protestants, the most prevalent denomination in the United States.
BEN FELLER, Associated Press Writer
