Litigation

Kagan Sworn in as Supreme Court Justice

By Peter Hardin

Elena Kagan, 50, took the oath of office today to become a Supreme Court justice.

Chief Justice John Roberts Jr. administered her oath (photo courtesy of The Associated Press), and Kagan pledged to “administer justice without respect to persons, and do equal right to the poor and to the rich,” according to a Los Angeles Times article.

Her swearing in only days after a 63-37 confirmation vote in the Senate allows her to begin work while the court is taking its summer recess. Family and friends joined for the event at the Supreme Court. She will have a formal investiture in October.

On Friday, President Obama hosted a televised celebration for her in the East Room of the White House. Because it is the first time three women will serve on the nation’s highest bench at one time, Obama remarked, ?It is yet another example of how our union has become more, not less, perfect over time ? more open, more fair, more free.”

She is the fourth woman in history to serve on the court, and some news media focused on the changes. “Historic but impact unclear,” stated the headline on an Associated Press article. An article in The New York Times said her oath-taking “continued a generational and demographic transformation of the nation’s highest bench.”

A former Harvard Law School dean and lawyer who served in the Clinton White House, U.S. Solicitor General Kagan was nominated by Obama to replace then-retiring Justice John Paul Stevens, 90. Given her age, she could exert great influence during her lifetime appointment if she keeps her health and stays on the court for years.

Among those attending the swearing-in were Justices Anthony Kennedy, Clarence Thomas, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and Sonia Sotomayor, and retired Justice Stevens.

According to a CNN report, guests included Cissy Marshall and Thurgood Marshall Jr., the widow and the son of the late Supreme Court justice for whom Kagan once clerked.

Full post as published by The Gavel on August 07, 2010 (boomark / email).