Predicting the Kagan nomination <...>
Liberals and conservatives alike are worried about Kagan's politics once she becomes a Justice. They are pouring over her body of legal writings, scrutinizing elements of her career, and psychoanalyzing her from a distance. Journalists are busily constructing a story of her life to make her accessible to the general public, while her political opponents try to engage in various forms of character assassination or, at the very least, a death by a thousand cuts.
I find all of this dreary and tiresome. Apparently, however, it is how we have to do things these days. I can only express my sympathy (perhaps even empathy-- that forbidden word in discussions of the federal judiciary!) for the gauntlet that she will now have to run.
Elena Kagan is hardly a stealth nominee. She has worked in two Democratic administrations and been the Dean of a major law school. If you can't figure out her general sensibilities, you really haven't been trying very hard. It is true that we can't know in advance what she will do precisely in the October Term 2019, but that is true even of Justices with far more elaborate paper records.
Elena Kagan will be a fine Justice, and in time the equal, I fully expect, of anyone currently sitting on the Court. There is a long history of people who had not previously served as judges-- but had served in the executive branch--being appointed to the Supreme Court. Does anyone today think William Rehnquist and Byron White were unqualified when they were nominated to the Supreme Court? I will concede, however, that Whizzer White in his prime could probably score more touchdowns than either Rehnquist or Kagan. Indeed, I'm sure White could outrun Roger Brooke Taney (a former Jackson attorney general), Robert Jackson (a former Roosevelt Attorney General) and Stanley Reed (a former Roosevelt Solicitor General) in the 40 yard dash. Come to think of it, holding three legged sack races for prospective nominees would probably be more dignified, and more intellectually engaging, than what we put them through nowadays.
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
