Senate Confirms Elena Kagan's Appointment To SCOTUS

eldavojohn writes "As expected, by a vote of 63 to 37 Elena Kagan has been appointed as the 112th member of the Supreme Court of the United States. Kagan, only 50 years old, has no judicial experience. The Washington Post explains: 'Other justices have corporate law backgrounds or a long record of arguing before the court. Kagan worked briefly for a law firm and argued her first case before an appellate court 11 months ago. It happened to be before the Supreme Court, the first of six cases she argued as the nation's first female solicitor general.' Her fair use views and free speech views have made her a focus of Slashdot recently."

Comments

Re:eh

[Anonymous Coward]

No history of scholarship, unless you count being a fucking law professor and dean of the Harvard law school. Or her published books and papers on legal issues. But why would we count that? We don't like her politics.

(Also, she clerked for Thurgood Marshall in the 80s, so it's not like she has no judicial experience of any kind. And it's not unheard of for SC members to jump into the job without being judges first.)

Re:Does it matter?

[Anonymous Coward]

So you've already forgotten their involvement with determining the outcome of the 2000 US presidential election?

Re:Obama's Harriet Miers

[UnknowingFool]

George W. Bush appoints some woman with no judicial experience to the Supreme Court, and when people express concerns about her lack of qualifications, he goes out and finds a better qualified candidate.
Barrack Obama appoints some woman with no judicial experience to the Supreme Court, and when people express concerns about her lack of qualifications, he laughs in their faces and pushes her through confirmation anyway.

Harriet Myers:

• 1970-1972 Law Clerk for US District Judge Joe Estes
• 1972-2001 Private practice
• 1986 President of Dallas Bar Association
• 1989-1991 Dallas City Council
• 1992 Head of State Bar of Texas
• 1995-2000 Texas Lottery Commission
• 2001-2003 Assistant to the President
• 2003-2004 Deputy Chief of Staff
• 2004-2007 White House Counsel

Elena Kagan:

• 1987-1988 Law Clerk to US District Judge
• 1988-1991 Law Clerk to SCOTUS Justice Thurgood Marshall
• 1991-1995 Associate Law Professor, University of Chicago
• 1995-1999 Associate White House Counsel
• 1999-2003 Law Professor, Havard
• 2003-2009 Dean of Law School, Harvard
• 2009-2010 US Solictor General
• 2010- SCOTUS Associate Justice

While it is true tha both women have no experience as a judge, Kagan has much more experience in academia and in government as a lawyer. In my opinion, she's more qualified than Miers. Before her nomination, Miers spent a total of 2 years as a lawyer for the government and no time in academia. Kagan spent 5 years as a government lawyer with 14 years of academia. Kagan also spent 3 years clerking for Thurgood Marshall.