Kagan Has NO Judicial Experience

Elena Kagan was officially confirmed as the 4th woman in history to the United States Supreme Court. In a 63-37 vote, the Senate confirmed Kagan as the 112th Justice to the highest court in the nation. President Obama was quoted saying, the vote was “an affirmation of her character and her temperament; her open-mindedness and evenhandedness; her determination to hear all sides of every story and consider all possible arguments.”

These descriptions of Elena Kagan may be true, however, I am completely baffled at how a person who has no experience as a judge is appointed to the highest court in the nation. How are we to know how she will decide cases? Even Senator Scott Brown (R-Mass) stated his reason for opposing Kagan's confirmation was a lack of judicial experience.

If you consider the most recent appointments to the Supreme Court, Sonia Sotomayor served as a judge to the U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York for 6 years and the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit 9 years. Justice Samuel Alito served as a Circuit Judge to the Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit from 1990-2006. Chief Justice John Roberts served as a Circuit Judge for the Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit for 2 years. Justice Stephen Breyer served as Chief Judge for the Court of Appeals for the First Circuit from 1990-1994 and a Circuit Judge for the Court of Appeals for the First Circuit from 1980 to 1990. Each of the justices currently serving on the Supreme Court has had a record of rulings. A record that we as a individuals can look at and say to our representatives, “this is the best candidate, please vote for this person” or “no way is this the best person for the job, please do not vote yes for this person.”

Elena Kagan's biography does not include any time served as a judge for any court. Her biography is as follows: Solicitor General of the United States (2009-2010), Dean of Harvard Law School (2003-2009), Professor, Harvard Law School (2001-2003), Visiting Professor, Harvard Law School (1999-2001), Associate White House Counsel (1995-1999), Deputy Director of the Domestic Policy Council (1995-1999), Professor, University of Chicago Law School (1995), Associate Professor, University of Chicago Law School (1991-1995). It seems to me she has spent too much time in the classroom and not enough time in the real world. It is one thing to know and understand the law, but it is another to have to interpret the law as it applies to new cases everyday and make judicial decisions based on the day to day litigation that takes place. I will be very interested to see what happens with this confirmation. Will Kagan keep to her liberal views or will she decide cases with a very open and unbiased mind? Your guess is as good as mine, since she has no record of past rulings.

Blog Stage 6 assignment

I agree with you completely on this subject. I had not realized that the Republicans nor the Democrats have proposed any legislation on the issue. I am not surprised that Obama has not come through on a campaign promise. Aside from his socialist health care reform, he's not come through on anything thus far in his presidency.

You are completely spot on... If the greater part of the immigration issue was coming from the Canadian border we would not be having this conversation. I think this is a very racially motivated issue.

I think Arizona has taken things into their own hands for the very reasons you have laid out. It is unfortunate, however, that the Arizona law will probably be shot down by the Supreme Court.

You have a very well written article with points drawn on both sides of the issue. Thanks for sharing.