The Senate Judiciary Committee has voted to confirm Elena Kagan’s nomination to the Supreme Court on a mainly partisan vote of 13 to 6.
All the Democrats on the committee voted in favor of Kagan, while all but one Republican, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), voted against her. Graham, who was one of just nine Republicans who voted in favor of Sonia Sotomayor’s confirmation last year, joined Democrats in voting in favor of Kagan.
“No one spent more time trying to beat President Obama perhaps other than Senator McCain,” Graham said. “I understood that we lost, Sen. Obama won, and … the Constitution requires me as a senator not to replace my judgment for his … or pick a fight with Ms. Kagan.”
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Kagan wins judiciary confirmation in mostly partisan vote, 13 to 6
Justices extend gun owner rights nationwide
The Supreme Court held Monday that the Constitution’s Second Amendment restrains government’s ability to significantly limit “the right to keep and bear arms,” advancing a recent trend by the John Roberts-led bench to embrace gun rights.
By a narrow, 5-4 vote, the justices also signaled, however, that some limitations on the right could survive legal challenges.
Writing for the court in a case involving restrictive laws in Chicago and one of its suburbs, Justice Samuel Alito said that the Second Amendment right “applies equally to the federal government and the states.”
Second document shows Kagan defending Clinton partial-birth abortion ban veto
Life News, “Second Document Has Kagan Defending Clinton Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Veto”
by Steven Ertelt
A newly-produced document today from the Clinton archives is the second to show Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan defending ex-President Bill Clinton’s veto of a bill to ban partial-birth abortions. The memo, and others, may increase Republican opposition to her nomination.
In one of the documents that comprises the 46,000 pages of material the William J. Clinton Presidential Library released today, Kagan opined on the ban for Clinton as an attorney with the administration’s Office of Domestic Policy.
In a February 27, 1997 memo to top White House staff, Kagan referred to the startling admission from Ron Fitzsimmons, at the time the executive director of the National Coalition of Abortion Providers.
Life News article continues here.
White House: Obama may use executive privilege to withhold Kagan documents
Kagan Watch, “White House: Obama may use executive privilege to withhold Kagan documents”
In a letter to Sen. Jeff Sessions, the ranking Republican on the Judiciary Committee Republican, Robert Bauer, counsel to Obama, implied the president may use executive privilege to hide some memos Elena Kagan wrote when she served in the Clinton White House.
“President Obama does not intend to assert executive privilege over any of the documents requested by the Committee,” Bauer writes.
“Of course, President Clinton also has an interest in these records, and his representative is reviewing them now,” he adds.
The Clinton library has more than 150,000 documents related to Elena Kagan. This is one of the few sources we have to know what Kagan thinks on many issues.
Read the letter here.
Kagan Watch article continues here.
Documents show Kagan’s liberal opinion on social issues
CBS News, “EXCLUSIVE: Documents Show Kagan’s Liberal Opinion on Social Issues”
by Jan Crawford
Elena Kagan has kept her cards so close to the vest that in the days after President Obama nominated her to the Supreme Court, some on the left worried she was too moderate to replace liberal Justice John Paul Stevens.
But in documents obtained by CBS News, Kagan–while working as a law clerk to the late Justice Thurgood Marshall – made her positions clear on some of the nation’s most contentious social issues.
The documents, buried in Marshall’s papers in the Library of Congress, show Kagan standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the liberal left, at a time when the Rehnquist Supreme Court was moving to the conservative right.
They also provide a remarkably candid picture of her opinions, including on the most controversial issue Supreme Court nominees ever confront: abortion.
CBS News article continues here.
Rushing in: Kagan hearings start in June
Houston Chronicle, “Judiciary Chairman: Kagan hearings start in June”
by Julie Hirschfeld Davis
The Senate Judiciary Committee chairman moved quickly Wednesday to advance Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan down a so-far smooth road to confirmation, setting hearings for June 28.
Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., said the schedule should allow the hearings to be completed before senators leave for a weeklong break in early July. In announcing it, Leahy was seizing the momentum building behind Kagan’s nomination just over a week after President Barack Obama selected her to succeed retiring Justice John Paul Stevens.
“I would urge everybody to come to the hearing with an open mind, listen to her answers to those questions, and we will make sure that every senator — both sides of the aisle — has ample time to ask the questions they want,” Leahy said.
Houston Chronicle article continues here.
Kagan’s lack of judicial experience draws Republican questions
Bloomberg, “Kagan’s Lack of Judicial Experience Draws Republican Questions”
by James Rowley and Laura Litvan
Republicans served notice they will highlight Elena Kagan’s lack of experience as a judge, and the little time she has worked as a courtroom lawyer, when the Senate considers her nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court.
That lack of judicial and litigation background — 14 months as U.S. solicitor general and two years as a private lawyer after finishing law school — leaves opponents without much of a record from prior cases with which to criticize President Barack Obama’s second high-court nominee.
While some Republicans questioned Kagan’s support for university protests against the Defense Department ban on acknowledged gays and lesbians, or pointed to her work with judges they consider too liberal, Democratic leaders said the former Harvard Law School dean would win approval.
“She will be confirmed,” said Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, a Vermont Democrat, calling Kagan a “superb nominee.”
Bloomberg article continues here.
Elena Kagan chosen by Obama for Supreme Court- has never been a judge or argued a case
Yahoo! News (AP), “Elena Kagan chosen by Obama for Supreme Court”
by Ben Feller
President Barack Obama on Monday nominated Solicitor General Elena Kagan to the Supreme Court, declaring she would demonstrate the same independence, integrity and passion for the law exhibited by retiring Justice John Paul Stevens.
If confirmed by the Senate, Kagan would become the third woman on the high court. At 50, she is relatively young for the lifetime post and could help shape the high court’s decisions for decades.
The former Harvard Law School dean “is widely regarded as one of the nation’s foremost legal minds,” Obama said. He introduced her in the White House East Room as “my friend.”
Yahoo! News (AP) article continues here.
Elena Kagan most likely Obama’s SCOTUS pick
Politico, “Obama’s court pick is imminent — POTUS to seek line-item veto — Britain sorting out ‘hung parliament’ — Did Dow tank on ‘fat finger error’? — Palin + Facebook = Yahtzee”
by Mike Allen
Look for President Obama to name his Supreme Court pick Monday, and look for it to be Solicitor General Elena Kagan, a former Harvard Law dean. The pick isn’t official, but top White House aides will be shocked if it’s otherwise. Kagan’s relative youth (50) is a huge asset for the lifetime post. And President Obama considers her to be a persuasive, fearless advocate who would serve as an intellectual counterweight to Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Scalia, and could lure swing Justice Kennedy into some coalitions The West Wing may leak the pick to AP’s Ben Feller on the later side Sunday, then confirm it for others for morning editions.
Politico article continues here.
Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens retiring
Yahoo! News (AP), “Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens retiring”
by Mark Sherman
Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens, the court’s oldest member and leader of its liberal bloc, is retiring. President Barack Obama now has his second high court opening to fill.
Stevens said Friday he will step down when the court finishes its work for the summer in late June or early July. He said he hopes his successor is confirmed “well in advance of the commencement of the court’s next term.”
His announcement had been hinted at for months. It comes 11 days before his 90th birthday.
Yahoo! News (AP) article continues here.
Supreme Court considers reach of gun rights
Fox News, “Supreme Court Considers Reach of Gun Rights”
by Lee Ross
The Supreme Court appeared poised Tuesday to issue a ruling that will expand to the states the high court’s historic 2008 ruling that individuals have a federally protected right to keep and bear arms.
If so, the decision would mark another hallmark victory for gun rights advocates and likely strike down Chicago’s handgun ban that is similar to the Washington D.C. law already invalidated by the justices.
The biggest questions before the court seemed to be how, rather than whether, to issue such a ruling and whether some regulation of firearms could survive. On the latter point, Justice Antonin Scalia said the majority opinion he wrote in the 2008 case “said as much.”
Fox News article continues here.
Reid criticizes American Bar Association
ReviewJournal, “AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION: Reid criticizes lawyers group”
by Steve Tetreault
Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., criticized the American Bar Association on Thursday, saying it should “get a new life” in how it rates prospective federal judges, after one of his choices got a mixed review.
In remarks to the Senate Judiciary Committee, Reid said the bar association’s ratings board puts too much weight on whether judicial nominees have prior bench experience and overlooks “real world” qualifications.
Reid expanded his criticism to include the Supreme Court, whose makeup, he said, consists of “people who have never seen the outside world.”
“I have asked President (Barack) Obama, ‘Let’s get somebody on the court that has not been a judge.’ They need to do more than thinking of themselves as these people who walk around in these robes in these fancy chambers.”
ReviewJournal article continues here.