Solicitor General Elena Kagan will be nominated by Barack Obama for a Supreme Court position to replace Justice John Paul Stevens. This will be the first time in history that the Court will have three female justices. Justice Kagan will be the youngest judge in the Court at 50 years old. This will allow Obama's ideas to stay within the court for a long while.
She is the first female dean at Harvard Law School, and "the first woman to serve as the top Supreme Court lawyer for any administration." Her ability to bring people with differing view points was the thing that stood out to Obama. However, her law experience compared to other candidates is very thin. It is guaranteed that she will be questioned about this at her hearing. So her next step is to win the Senate hearing. Democrats currently have 59 votes so Kagan has a higher chance of becoming a Justice.
What do you guys think about Obama's nomination? Do you think that her experience is too little?
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4 comments:
Obviously Obama has reason for choosing Kagan-she is clearly an intelligent woman that could help to promote ideas he believes in for decades. However, after reading the article, it does seem a little unusual that she lacks judicial experience. While I understand her experience with law in general is impressive, it makes me a little uneasy to know that someone who has such great power, and an essentially unlimited term, could have so much influence over the country with no previous experience as a judge. Maybe she is the right pick, and maybe she is the best one for the job. Judicial experience can only do so much in defining a candidate. However, it does seem slightly off to pick her over candidates with more experience who are probably just as qualified.
Obama knows what he is doing I think with little experience it may be a negative aspect but than again lets remember you do have to start somewhere. She is a very intelligent lady she did work as a private attorney for 2 years and the rest of her career in government so she has to know what she is doing. Even though there is a lack of judicial experience which is unusual to me that Obama who has a lot of power would pick Kagen with little experience. But just because she has little experience doesn't mean she doesn't know what she is doing so maybe she can bring more to the table with all her different experience so we will just have to see..
I feel like her experience is too little. Even though she graduated from Harvard University and is the dean of students there, it doesn't mean she has the experience necessary to become a justice. Sure, she may have heard a lot about previous rulings and laws, etc. She may not have come in direct contact with them. This means she may never know what to expect. I agree that it's reasonable that Obama selected her to help promote his own political views. However, I would expect him to at least choose someone with maybe a bit more experience. This is unfair if another candidate would be just as qualified.
I agree with Giovanna, all we can do now is just sit and watch what she can do.
It is great that Obama is implementing significant "change" into our political system as well as our judicial system, but really? Nominating someone with no previous judicial experience is kind of absurd. Kagan has worked in the bureaucracy where individuals are given discretion, especially the domestic policy advisor. As much as anyone can deny her bias, I feel like there will always be a stronger personal bias in her judgments.
To me, the Supreme Court deserves a merit system. Judges whom have served many years and know public policy in an unbiased manner should serve at the Supreme Court level.
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