Elena Kagan, Obamads Scotus Pick

[olevetonahill]

Why we aint got a cussin discussin going on about this yet ?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/mcclatchy/20100510/pl_mcclatchy/3499926

[47straight]

It is an embarrassment that the President and Senate do not always insist, as a threshold requirement, that a nominee’s previous accomplishments evidence an ability not merely to handle but to master the “craft” aspects of being a judge.

[NormanPride]

Since she's only had 3 years of actual experience and it was a while back, I have no idea what to think of her. She sounds like she's out of touch, though... Or too much of an idealist. I wouldn't mind that, honestly...

[olevetonahill]

Ive read some of the reports about her. She seems Like a Kook to me .

[OklahomaTuba]

She????

Not sure anyone should even be considered for such a high position that hold such high disregard for our armed forces as "she" obviously does.

[olevetonahill]

Dont believe Inhofe,
thinks much of her either :D

Associated Press

WASHINGTON -- A Republican senator from Oklahoma says he has decided to oppose Elena Kagan's nomination to the Supreme Court.

GOP Senator James Inhofe indicated he will vote against Kagan because of her "lack of judicial experience and her interpretation of the Constitution."

Inhofe is the first senator to say publicly that he will oppose Kagan, who was nominated Monday to replace retiring Justice John Paul Stevens. Inhofe also voted against Kagan's nomination to be solicitor general.

The Oklahoma senator criticized her for attempting to bar military recruiters from the Harvard Law campus while she was dean. He also said he thinks she has "contempt" for the Senate confirmation process and a "lack of impartiality" for those who disagree with her positions.

[47straight]

I'm quoting Kagan herself, btw.

[OklahomaTuba]

Just another reason why Inhofe will be re-elected in a landslide, and Obumblefuk will be a one termer.

[NormanPride]

I agree with Inhofe on this one so far, but I still think he's a crazy old man.

[olevetonahill]

I agree with Inhofe on this one so far, but I still think he's a crazy old man.

Easy on the "Crazy old man " thing :D

[NormanPride]

:D You're more drunk than crazy, bud.

[GottaHavePride]

OK, so this lady took over Harvard and promptly set about hiring conservative faculty members to combat complaints of liberal bias among the faculty there. As far as I have seen in brief searching, the reason she banned military recruiters from Harvard was their "don't ask don't tell" policy - she thinks if gay people want to serve they should be let in.

Also, she worked for Thurgood Marshall and for the last year or so has been the lead US solicitor before the Supreme Court.

Why is it a BAD thing that she hasn't been a judge before? There have been a lot of pretty good justices on the Court that weren't judges before their appointment.

[NormanPride]

It wouldn't be as bad for me if she didn't seem like such an academic idealist. Of course, my understanding of her is from this one freaking article, so take that for what it's worth.

On the other hand, she'd probably try to stick to the letter more, rather than trying to impose her will on the nation.

[47straight]

Why is it a BAD thing that she hasn't been a judge before? There have been a lot of pretty good justices on the Court that weren't judges before their appointment.

Ask her, she seemed to think it was a bad idea.

[OklahomaTuba]

the reason she banned military recruiters from Harvard was their "don't ask don't tell" policy - she thinks if gay people want to serve they should be let in.

So we want a justice of the SCOTUS that thinks its OK to fight discrimination by using discrimination? Awesome.

[MR2-Sooner86]

She looks like Pat from SNL.

[OklahomaTuba]

Obama nominating a socialist? Who'd have imagined it...

Titled "To the Final Conflict: Socialism in New York City, 1900-1933," Kagan opined that infighting caused the decline of the early socialist movement. She asked why the "greatness" of socialism was not reemerging as a major political force.
"In our own times, a coherent socialist movement is nowhere to be found in the United States. Americans are more likely to speak of a golden past than of a golden future, of capitalism's glories than of socialism's greatness," wrote Kagan, Obama's solicitor general.

"Why, in a society by no means perfect, has a radical party never attained the status of a major political force? Why, in particular, did the socialist movement never become an alternative to the nation's established parties?" she asked.

...

"The story is a sad but also a chastening one for those who, more than half a century after socialism's decline, still wish to change America," she wrote. "Radicals have often succumbed to the devastating bane of sectarianism; it is easier, after all, to fight one's fellows than it is to battle an entrenched and powerful foe. Yet if the history of Local New York shows anything, it is that American radicals cannot afford to become their own worst enemies. In unity lies their only hope."

Her thesis was dedicated to her brother "whose involvement in radical causes led me to explore the history of American radicalism in the hope of clarifying my own political ideas."http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=152133

[rainiersooner]

It is an embarrassment that the President and Senate do not always insist, as a threshold requirement, that a nominee’s previous accomplishments evidence an ability not merely to handle but to master the “craft” aspects of being a judge.

I AGREE!!! Especially if a Democrat nominates the prospective justice. On the other hand, here is a list of the supreme court justices who were not judges before being appointed:


Chief Justices

John Jay..............................Governor
John Rutledge......................Governor
Oliver Ellsworth....................Senator
John Marshall.......................Secretary of State
Roger Taney.........................Secretary of the Treasury, U.S. Attorney General
Salmon Chase......................Secretary of the Treasury, Governor
Morrison Waite.....................Lawyer
Melville Fuller.......................Representative
Edward White.......................Lawyer
William Howard Taft..............U.S. President
Charles Hughes....................Secretary of State
Harlan Stone........................Attorney General
Fred Vinson..........................Secretary of the Treasury
Earl Warren..........................Governor


Associate Justices

William Cushing...................Member, Continental Congress
James Wilson......................Member, Continental Congress
William Paterson..................Governor
Samuel Chase.....................Member, Maryland General Assembly; Continental Congress
Bushrod Washington............Lawyer
William Johnson..................Representative, S.C. House
Henry B. Livingston.............Military
Gabriel Duvall.....................Representative
Joseph Story.......................Representative
Smith Thompson.................Secretary of the Navy
John McLean.......................Unknown
Henry Baldwin....................Representative
James M. Wayne.................Mayor, Representative
Philip P. Barbour..................Representative
John McKinley.....................Senator, Representative
Levi Woodbury....................Governor, Secretary of the Treasury, Secretary of the Navy
Benjamin Curtis..................Lawyer
John Campbell....................Lawyer
Nathan Clifford....................Attorney General
Noah Swayne......................Member, Ohio Legislature, U.S. Attorney
Samuel Miller......................Lawyer
David Davis........................Senator
Joseph Bradley....................Lawyer
John M. Harlan (I)...............Kentucky Attorney General
Stanley Matthews................U.S. Attorney, Military
Horace Gray........................Lawyer
Lucius Lamar.......................Member, Georgia House, Secretary of the Interior
George Shiras, Jr.................Lawyer
Howell Jackson....................Member, Tennessee House
Edward D. White..................Lawyer
William Henry Moody............Attorney General
Mahlon Pitney.....................Congress (office unspecified)
James McReynolds...............Attorney General
Louis Brandeis.....................Lawyer
George Sutherland...............Congress (office unspecified)
Pierce Butler.......................Lawyer
Edward Sanford...................Attorney General
Owen Roberts......................Assistant District Attorney
Hugo L. Black......................Senator
Stanley Forman Reed...........Solicitor General
Felix Frankfurter..................Lawyer
William O. Douglas...............Law Professor, Chairman of SEC
Frank Murphy......................Mayor, Governor, Attorney General
James Francis Byrnes...........Secretary of State
Robert H. Jackson................Attorney General
Harold Hitz Burton................Senator
Tom Clark...........................Attorney General
John M. Harlan (II)..............Lawyer
Arthur J. Goldberg...............Secretary of Labor
Abe Fortas..........................President and Chairman of the SEC
Thurgood Marsha ll...............Lawyer
Lewis F. Powell....................Lawyer

Seehttp://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_Supreme_Court_Justices_were_not_judges_prior_ to_being_nominated_to_the_Supreme_Court

[rainiersooner]

And by the way, I don't know what I think about this nominee yet. But the predictable outrage by the right is as boring as the predictable outrage would have been from the left.

[Veritas]

On the upside, she'd have more experience at her job than he does.

[olevetonahill]

And by the way, I don't know what I think about this nominee yet. But the predictable outrage by the right is as boring as the predictable outrage would have been from the left.

Other than Tuba who has shown ANY outrage ?

Im just curious what peeps think about her .

[47straight]

I AGREE!!! Especially if a Democrat nominates the prospective justice. On the other hand, here is a list of the supreme court justices who were not judges before being appointed:



Seehttp://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_Supreme_Court_Justices_were_not_judges_prior_ to_being_nominated_to_the_Supreme_Court

Bring it up with Kagan, she said it.

[Frozen Sooner]

Would've preferred Diane Wood for various and sundry reasons. Well, other than the fact that Wood went to UT.

[OUMallen]

You don't need the nuts and bolts of the judge "craft" at that level. That may sound funny, but it's true. Deeply intelligent legal analysis, the ability to understand nuanced case law, the ability to write fully and thoughtfully are each more important for a SCOTUS justice than the ability to correctly, quickly rule on evidential objections or the ability to properly guide counsel through discovery, both of which may be considered "judge skills" I would think.

[47straight]

You don't need the nuts and bolts of the judge "craft" at that level. That may sound funny, but it's true. Deeply intelligent legal analysis, the ability to understand nuanced case law, the ability to write fully and thoughtfully are each more important for a SCOTUS justice than the ability to correctly, quickly rule on evidential objections or the ability to properly guide counsel through discovery, both of which may be considered "judge skills" I would think.

Oh, you must be speaking of her many published law review articles.

[OUMallen]

Oh, you must be speaking of her many published law review articles.

I have no idea about her. I was just making a point that being a black-robed Oklahoma County or W.D. of OK Federal Judge may or may not be super-duper helpful for a Justice at that level.

[lexsooner]

You don't need the nuts and bolts of the judge "craft" at that level. That may sound funny, but it's true. Deeply intelligent legal analysis, the ability to understand nuanced case law, the ability to write fully and thoughtfully are each more important for a SCOTUS justice than the ability to correctly, quickly rule on evidential objections or the ability to properly guide counsel through discovery, both of which may be considered "judge skills" I would think.

Agreed, and Kagan is high qualified to do these things - Professor of Law at Harvard and Chicago, Solicitor General, editor on the Harvard Law Review, judicial law clerk for Thurgood Marshall, etc. etc. No, she does not have judgeship experience, but her credentials suggest she is highly qualified. And by the way, she is considered a "moderate."

SCOTUS requires the brainiest of all lawyers, and all of them, including Kagan and minus Clarence Thomas, possess the skills to handle the deep Constitutional issues they must decide.

[lexsooner]

Why we aint got a cussin discussin going on about this yet ?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/mcclatchy/20100510/pl_mcclatchy/3499926

Because she is well qualified for the SCOTUS and the predictable outrage of anything Obama does is so contrived and predictable that even those who engage in it are bored before they even jump in.

[Frozen Sooner]

Agreed, and Kagan is high qualified to do these things - Professor of Law at Harvard and Chicago, Solicitor General, editor on the Harvard Law Review, judicial law clerk for Thurgood Marshall, etc. etc. No, she does not have judgeship experience, but her credentials suggest she is highly qualified. And by the way, she is considered a "moderate."

SCOTUS requires the brainiest of all lawyers, and all of them, including Kagan and minus Clarence Thomas, possess the skills to handle the deep Constitutional issues they must decide.

Hey, now. Much as I like to joke that Clarence Thomas could be replaced with a Tandy programmed to say "This shouldn't be incorporated!" and "privileges and immunities!" he's pretty smart. The decisions he's written that I've read tend to be clear and direct

[lexsooner]

Hey, now. Much as I like to joke that Clarence Thomas could be replaced with a Tandy programmed to say "This shouldn't be incorporated!" and "privileges and immunities!" he's pretty smart. The decisions he's written that I've read tend to be clear and direct

Sorry, I cannot take him seriously after he wrote in a separate opinion in a prison case, not even joined by Scalia, that the Eighth Amendment prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment only applies to the terms of a criminal sentence, not to anything which may happen to a prisoner while incarcerated. So even if the prisoner is allowed to rot in prison and food, water, medical care are withheld, the Eighth Amendment is not implicated, according to Justice Thomas.

[RUSH LIMBAUGH is my clone!]

Obumblefuk I had not seen/heard that one before. Be sure to wave it around, so GottaHavePride can get some lovin' in on that name.

[RUSH LIMBAUGH is my clone!]

Here's Ed Meese's opinion on the new nominee http://blog.heritage.org/2010/05/10/morning-bell-former-attorney-general-ed-meese-on-supreme-court-nominee-elena-kagan/

[rainiersooner]

Other than Tuba who has shown ANY outrage ?

Im just curious what peeps think about her .

I meant in the media. It's been pretty tempered here...aside from Tuba.

[Soonerfan88]

Again, it is Kagan herself who spouted off about needing experience as a judge before being on SCOTUS.

I have a much larger issue with the continued Northeast, Ivy League bias of the court. I think only one member of the court was not born in the east but he went to college & has lived there ever since. The entire world doesn't revolve around the DC-NYC corridor and a little different perspective would be nice.

Unfortunately, I don't think there is anything that can be done at this point, she's in unless some horrible scandal is uncovered.

[47straight]

I have no idea about her. I was just making a point that being a black-robed Oklahoma County or W.D. of OK Federal Judge may or may not be super-duper helpful for a Justice at that level.

Fair enough.


But I understand she has three published law review articles.

[Frozen Sooner]

I have a much larger issue with the continued Northeast, Ivy League bias of the court. I think only one member of the court was not born in the east but he went to college & has lived there ever since.

Justice Thomas grew up in Georgia but yeah, went to law school at Yale.

Justice Breyer grew up in Northern California and went to undergrad at Michigan, but law school at either Harvard or Yale, can't remember which.

I think Souter was born in Minnesota or something and moved to NH early on.

[Frozen Sooner]

Fair enough.


But I understand she has three published law review articles.

Five, actually. C'mon, man, you're not getting a full professorship at Chicago or HLS with only three published articles.;)

[Soonerfan88]

Thanks, Froz. Breyer is the one I was thinking of -- completely forgot about Thomas.

[Frozen Sooner]

Thanks, Froz. Breyer is the one I was thinking of -- completely forgot about Thomas.

Don't we all. :D

There's definitely a HLS/Yale slant on the Court. Justice Thomas talks about it a lot-in fact, when he spoke to my class he was very adamant about wanting to hire clerks from schools in the South and West, since people who sit on the Supreme Court generally clerked on the Court.

[SoonerJack]

On the upside, she'd have more experience at her job than he does.

AND....IT'S....OUTTA HERE!!!

[sooneron]

Why is it a BAD thing that she hasn't been a judge before? There have been a lot of pretty good justices on the Court that weren't judges before their appointment.

You have to understand that the board neocons hate Rehnquist, too.

[GottaHavePride]

What about John Marshall and Earl Warren (as previously mentioned)? ;)

[Okla-homey]

I don't think she's a raving looney lib. Also, the extreme left has problems with her. Therefore, she's about as good as righties could expect IMHO.

There's no point gnashing teeth unless and until BHO gets to appoint a justice that would upset the 5/4 conservative majority on the Court.

[MR2-Sooner86]

Why hasn't this come up? I think this is very important.

http://blog.heritage.org/wp-content/uploads/Kagan-profile-10-5-10.jpg

Look at her! I seriously thought the first time I saw her that she was a guy in drag.

[Okla-homey]

Why hasn't this come up? I think this is very important.

http://blog.heritage.org/wp-content/uploads/Kagan-profile-10-5-10.jpg

Look at her! I seriously thought the first time I saw her that she was a guy in drag.

She reminds me of "Chas" Bono (A/K/A Chastity Bono)

http://i844.photobucket.com/albums/ab7/Okla-homey/chastity-bono.jpg

[RUSH LIMBAUGH is my clone!]

Why hasn't this come up? I think this is very important.

http://blog.heritage.org/wp-content/uploads/Kagan-profile-10-5-10.jpg

Look at her! I seriously thought the first time I saw her that she was a guy in drag.That can't stand! SCOTUS mofos aren't allowed to cross-dress, or otherwise fool the DC gender police. What was the president thinking here?

[JohnnyMack]

Why hasn't this come up? I think this is very important.

http://blog.heritage.org/wp-content/uploads/Kagan-profile-10-5-10.jpg

Look at her! I seriously thought the first time I saw her that she was a guy in drag.

http://bigmexicandinner.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/03/the_albino.jpg

[hawaii 5-0]

Susan Boyle has some competition.


5-0

[OULenexaman]

worst looking shemale ever....

[TUSooner]

And by the way, I don't know what I think about this nominee yet. But the predictable outrage by the right is as boring as the predictable outrage would have been from the left.

THIS! ^^^^

[soonerscuba]

I. for one, am looking forward to Paul Blart: Supreme Court Justice.

Also, we need educational and regional diversity on the court yesterday.

[King Barry's Back]

OK, so this lady took over Harvard and promptly set about hiring conservative faculty members to combat complaints of liberal bias among the faculty there. As far as I have seen in brief searching, the reason she banned military recruiters from Harvard was their "don't ask don't tell" policy - she thinks if gay people want to serve they should be let in.

Also, she worked for Thurgood Marshall and for the last year or so has been the lead US solicitor before the Supreme Court.

Why is it a BAD thing that she hasn't been a judge before? There have been a lot of pretty good justices on the Court that weren't judges before their appointment.

I'm only responding regarding her hiring of "conservative faculty members."

I don't have the numbers in front of me, but I saw the other day that at Harvard Law School, she oversaw someting like 500 hirings. Of those, something like 4 were conservative.

So, kudos for hiring more than zero. But pretty limited kudos, at that.

[King Barry's Back]

You don't need the nuts and bolts of the judge "craft" at that level. That may sound funny, but it's true. Deeply intelligent legal analysis, the ability to understand nuanced case law, the ability to write fully and thoughtfully are each more important for a SCOTUS justice than the ability to correctly, quickly rule on evidential objections or the ability to properly guide counsel through discovery, both of which may be considered "judge skills" I would think.



Well said. Maybe we need to move away from seating only coddled members of the East Coast ivy league lawyerly elite?