Supreme Court Nom Kagan: Too Liberal or Too Conservative?

AP/Jose Luis Magana

This morning President Obama will formally announce his nominee for the Supreme Court seat vacated by John Paul Stevens. If confirmed by the Senate, the Upper West Side-raised Elena Kagan, who currently serves as Obama's Solicitor General, would be the nation’s 112th justice. Some on the left worry she's not liberal enough, while others on the right assume she's too liberal, because she once barred army recruiters from a campus facility because of the military's ban on gays violated the school’s anti-discrimination policy. CBS's Bob Schieffer thinks a "really bitter and vicious" confirmation battle looms:

Just this weekend, you saw the very conservative Bob Bennett, the Senator from Utah, lose the Republican nomination because members to the right of the party, a lot of Tea Party people, thought that he was not conservative enough. I think you will see some Republican Senators, moderates, giving very careful consideration to their vote on Elena Kagan.
In a way, a vote against her would be 'Tea Party insurance,' to let people know that they're moving to the right. The Republican Party is moving very far to the right. This is going to be a very, very difficult election-year argument on Capitol Hill.

Kagan's complete lack of judicial experience will be both a strength and weakness going into the confirmation battle. Because of her lack of time on the bench, there's currently much speculation about Kagan's personal political views. A graduate of Harvard Law School (and its eventual dean), she goes way back with Obama—to her days as a professor at the University of Chicago. But some liberals believe that Kagan could move the Supreme Court to the right, fretting over past statements that suggest she believes in strong executive-branch powers. Other analysts say Obama's strategy is intended to attract the swing vote of Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, not replace Stevens with a more liberal justice.

Kagan was the first woman to run Harvard Law School and the first woman to serve as solicitor general. The Times reports that if the Senate confirms Kagan, the Supreme Court for the first time will have no Protestant members. Kagan would be the third Jew on the current Supreme Court; the others are all Catholic. They all went to Harvard or Yale.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By John Del Signore in News on May 10, 2010 8:58 AM

Comments [rss]

mingusahum

http://www.superhans.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/mark.jpg

DAVID MITCHELL IS DRESSING UP LIKE SUPREME COURT NOMINEES!

wingedearth

It's Pat!

aveB4life

Like Tina Fey with Sarah Palin, Mike Myers hit this nail on the head!

Mr Mel

Don't worry, the right wing is looking hard for something juicy to lay on her. Her sexual orientation (if any, think Mayor Koch) is probably what they're going to look for. It'll get down & dirty. I wonder if Mary Cheney would to go to bat for her, if necessary.

Mr. Shankly

Alvy Singer: You, you, you're like New York, Jewish, left-wing, liberal, intellectual, Central Park West, Brandeis University, the socialist summer camps and the, the father with the Ben Shahn drawings, right, and the really, y'know, strike-oriented kind of, red diaper, stop me before I make a complete imbecile of myself.

Gothampc

Too Liberal or Too Conservative?

Try Too Ugly.

FelixtheCat & Christine Quinn'

oh, she was a mall cop as well.

http://www.celebritywonder.com/wp/Kevin_James_in_Paul_Blart:_Mall_Cop_Wallpaper_2_1280.jpg

spiritross

Well definitely hit with the same ugly stick that Janet Reno was - yikes.

freddynyc

I guess it's safe to assume she supports gay rights...

FelixtheCat & Christine Quinn'

So tired of Pres Obama being moderate and he only ends up not making any real changes. remember drill baby drill? He should have pick a real liberal person to offset Thomas, Scalia, Roberts. damn, what a disappointment.

cls346

Ginsburg graduated from Columbia Law School...she transferred there from Harvard. That diversifies things a bit. ;)

BDS=(Boycott.Divest.Sanction)

Joe Lieberman is thrilled by the nomination.

http://thinkprogress.org/2010/04/11/lieberman-on-scotus/

duckumu

obama could nominate pat robertson for supreme court and republicans would still say it's too liberal.

but really, the problem with kagan is that she's a corporatist to the bone. we need less of that in the supreme court.

BDS=(Boycott.Divest.Sanction)

In a subsequent interview with NewsMax, Lieberman said "thank God" that "the momentum is with the Republicans."

Lieberman is great example of how corrupt our poltical parties are. Here's a 'democrat' who endorsed Bush for a 2nd term. Endorsed McCain. Openly pushs a republican agenda. the other day he proposed getting rid of the bill of rights for some citizens.

yet he recieved NO fallout from the democrats. he was allowed to keep his chairmanship of the homeland security committee. he still co-sponsers bills with 'respected' democrats. he hasnt been ostractized at all.

is this the will of the people? is this democracy? nah.

duckumu

that's a red flag if there ever was one

John_Matrix

Holder, Sotomayor, Kagan

Black, Latina, Jewish

Stuyvesant, Cardinal Spellman, Hunter

Columbia, Yale, Harvard

I sense a pattern in Obama's top lawyer picks.

I'm going to bet the next will be: Chinese, Bronx Science, Stanford

Kojak

" Some on the left worry she's not liberal enough, while others on the right assume she's too liberal"

Which means she's perfect.

You don't NEED to serve on the bench to become a justice, and no one doubts her experience. Its just that because she doesn't have a record on the bench to scrutinize, few know where she really stands.