OBAMA APPOINTMENT OF LIBERAL KAGAN NO SURPRISE

The appointment of liberal Solicitor General Elena Kagan as Obama's pick to replace equally liberal retiring Supreme Court Justice John Stevens is no great surprise. While Kagan's appointment will not change the overall make up of the court her total lack of judicial experience could be a stumbling block for her confirmation and may actually if confirmed help the conservatives on the court.

Her lack of judicial experience which is zero, has already raised red flags with many on the Senate Judicial Committee and the eye brows of many others. Her only experience with the high court has been as Obama's Solicitor General and she has just a hand full of cases on her resume before the court on behalf of the administration.

Those who have tried to spin this nomination as Obama's attempt to look more centrist because of Kagan's lack of judicial experience are not only wrong but deceptive in their spin. Kagan has a history of supporting liberal causes the most controversial of which was while she was the Dean of the Harvard Law School when she banned military recruiting from the campus.

She has also been extremely critical of the confirmation process for judges, condemning both nominees who do not give detailed answers and Senators who ask pointed political question. We shall see if she abides by her own criticism when she sits before the Senate or she clams up like most nominees do.

If confirmed, at least initially her lack of judicial experience may benefit the conservative justices not because Kagan will side with them but because in replacing liberal Justice Stevens she loses the influence he had on the court because of his long tenure as a Justice. The one moderate swing judge on the high court Anthony Kennedy was influenced in many of his court decisions by the liberal Stevens.

Kagan at least at first will not have that strong influence on Kennedy which could benefit Justices Scalia, Thomas, Alito and Chief Justice Roberts whose conservative views could influence Kennedy without the known past liberal influence of Stevens.

The confirmation hearings could be very interesting since Kagan has little or no paper trail and as such Senators especially those in the GOP will ask pointed question which will be designed to find out just how this nominee actually thinks on issues that could face the court if she is confirmed. Without an extensive paper trail like most nominees her opinions are not well known.


It is well known that she has been a strong supporter of liberal Democrats during elections and has donated more than $12,000 to Democrat candidates over the past decade, more than $6,000 of the donations went to Obama's Senate and Presidential run. So her views obviously will lean very left which will be apparent as the hearings progress. The GOP because of having 41 Senate votes has the capability of filibustering her final floor vote but most experts believe that her confirmation is all but secure.

At 50 years of age Kagan will have a very long tenure on the court and as such her liberal influence once confirmed will help shape court decisions for many years. Whether she will be another Ginsberg who sees her responsibility as a justice to legislate from the bench from a total leftist view without regard for the Constitution or whether Kagan will follow her Constitutional duty as a Judge to be impartial on the court remains to be seen. Personally I believe she will be similar to Ginsberg since she is very much a mirror image of Barack Obama.

Ken Taylor