Legal Commentary

On Kagan: Answers Are A Must

By Big Tent Democrat

NYTimes editorial on why the Kagan Standard must be applied to Elena Kagan:

President Obama may know that his new nominee to the Supreme Court, Elena Kagan, shares his thinking on the multitude of issues that face the court and the nation, but the public knows nothing of the kind.

[. . . A] search for her own views on dozens of other matters yields little. Though she has said that she respects precedents on abortion, she has said virtually nothing on racial preferences, gun rights or private property rights. [. . .] There is no record to suggest an answer.

[I]n one of Ms. Kagan’s few forcefully stated positions, she wrote in 1995 that she detests “polite and restrained” confirmation hearings, calling them a “vapid and hollow charade” and urging senators to fully explore a court nominee’s substantive views. We hope the Senate follows her advice and gets Ms. Kagan to open up a little.

The Senate must demand that Kagan open up a lot.

Speaking for me only

Full post as published by TalkLeft on May 11, 2010 (boomark / email).