Elena Kagan Supreme Court nomination explained

Nomination:Elena Kagan Supreme Court nomination
Nominee:Elena Kagan
Nominated By:Barack Obama (president of the United States)
Outcome:Approved by the U.S. Senate
Date Nominated:May 10, 2010
Date Confirmed:August 5, 2010
Succeeding:John Paul Stevens (associate justice)
Vote1:Vote of the Senate Judiciary Committee
Votes Favor1:13
Votes Against1:6
Result1:Reported favorably
Vote2:Senate confirmation vote
Votes Favor2:63
Votes Against2:37
Result2:Confirmed

On May 10, 2010, President Barack Obama announced his selection of Elena Kagan for Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, to replace retiring Justice John Paul Stevens. Kagan's nomination was confirmed by a 63–37 vote of the United States Senate on August 5, 2010. When nominated, Kagan was Solicitor General of the United States, a position to which Obama had appointed her in March 2009. Kagan was the first Supreme Court nominee since Sandra Day O'Connor in 1981 to not be a sitting circuit court judge and the most recent such nominee as of 2023. She was the first Supreme Court nominee since William Rehnquist and Lewis F. Powell Jr. in 1971[1] to not be a sitting judge on any court.

Nomination

Potential candidates

On April 9, 2010, John Paul Stevens announced that he would retire from the Supreme Court on June 29, at the start of Court's summer 2010 recess. He had served as an associate justice for 34 years.[2] Those considered front-runners for the nomination by press reports, in addition to Elena Kagan, were Diane Wood and Merrick Garland.[3] Kagan had also been a finalist for the Court vacancy one year earlier, when Justice Sonia Sotomayor was selected to succeed the retiring David Souter.[4]

Announcement

President Barack Obama announced the nomination of Elena Kagan to the Supreme Court on May 10, 2010.[4] He praised Kagan as a "consensus builder", and said that she "is widely regarded as one of the nation's foremost legal minds".[5] The nomination was formally received by the Senate that same day, and was subsequently referred to the Judiciary Committee.[6]

Response to the nomination

In the Senate, Kagan's nomination was received positively by most Democrats. Judiciary Committee chairman Patrick Leahy applauded Kagan's experience and qualifications. In doing so, he called attention to her work in academia and with the federal governmentnoting that both were outside the so-called "judicial monastery" from which most contemporary justices have come. The last justices to join the Court without any prior judicial experience had been Lewis Powell and William Rehnquist, both appointed by President Richard Nixon in 1972.[7]

Republicans were quick to express criticism, particularly over her handling of military recruiters during her time as Dean of Harvard Law School, as well as her work as a law clerk for the late Justice Thurgood Marshall, whom many of them deemed a liberal activist.[8] Even so, minority whip Jon Kyl, who supported Kagan's nominations for solicitor general (a "temporary political appointment") but was reticent to support her associate justice (a "lifetime appointment"),[7] all but ruled out using a filibuster to block a final Senate floor vote on the nomination, telling CBS's Face the Nation, "The filibuster should be relegated to extreme circumstances, and I don't think Elena Kagan represents that."[9] Opposition to Kagan among Senate Republicans was not universal however. A few expressed support for her, including Lindsey Graham, Susan Collins and Richard Lugar.[10]

The deans of over one-third of the country's law schools, 69 people in total, endorsed Elena Kagan's nomination in an open letter in early June. The letter lauded what it considered her coalition-building skills and "understanding of both doctrine and policy" as well as her written record of legal analysis.[11]

The National Rifle Association of America announced its opposition to Kagan, and stated that it would score the vote on her confirmation, meaning that Senators who vote in favor of Kagan would receive a lower rating from the organization.[12] At the same time, the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence announced its support for Kagan's nomination.[13]

Judiciary Committee review

See also: Senate Judiciary Committee reviews of nominations to the Supreme Court of the United States.

Confirmation hearings

Kagan's Confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee began on June 28, 2010.[14] From the 28th through the 30th, Kagan underwent two rounds of questioning by each member of the committee.

Several witnesses were called to give testimony before the Judiciary Committee at the hearings.[15] These witnesses included Kim Askew and William J. Kayatta, Jr. of the American Bar Association.[15] The Democratic members of the committee called witnesses that included:[15]

Republican members of the committee called the following witnesses:[15]

Committee vote

After the completion of testimony, Republicans on the Judiciary Committee successfully delayed a vote on forwarding the nomination to the full Senate for one week.[16] On July 20, the committee voted 13–6 to endorse and forward the nomination, with only one Republican, Lindsey Graham, voting in the affirmative.[17] To date she is the last nominee to the Supreme Court to have a Bipartisan committee vote.

Full Senate vote

The Senate confirmed Elena Kagan to be an associate justice of the Supreme Court on August 5, 2010, by a vote of 63–37. All Democrats, except for Ben Nelson, voted for her, as did Independents Joe Lieberman and Bernie Sanders, and five Republicans: Susan Collins, Lindsey Graham, Judd Gregg, Richard Lugar, and Olympia Snowe.[18] [19]

Senate vote on PN1768
Elena Kagan, of Massachusetts, to be an Associate
Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.
August 5, 2010PartyTotal votes
DemocraticRepublicanIndependent
Yea565263
Nay136037
Result:
Senator Party State text-align="center"Vote
D HawaiiYea
R TennesseeNay
R WyomingNay
D MontanaYea
D IndianaYea
D AlaskaYea
D ColoradoYea
R UtahNay
D New MexicoYea
R MissouriNay
D CaliforniaYea
R Nay
D OhioYea
R KansasNay
R KentuckyNay
R North CarolinaNay
D IllinoisYea
D WashingtonYea
D MarylandYea
D DelawareYea
D PennsylvaniaYea
R GeorgiaNay
R OklahomaNay
R MississippiNay
R MaineYea
D North DakotaYea
R TennesseeNay
R TexasNay
R IdahoNay
R South CarolinaNay
D ConnecticutYea
D North DakotaYea
D IllinoisYea
R NevadaNay
R WyomingNay
D WisconsinYea
D CaliforniaYea
D MinnesotaYea
D New YorkYea
D West VirginiaYea
R South CarolinaYea
R IowaNay
R New HampshireYea
D North CarolinaYea
D Yea
R UtahNay
R TexasNay
R OklahomaNay
D Yea
R GeorgiaNay
R NebraskaNay
D Yea
D Yea
D Yea
D Yea
D Yea
R ArizonaNay
D Yea
D Yea
D Yea
R FloridaNay
D Yea
ID Yea
D Yea
R IndianaYea
R ArizonaNay
D Yea
R KentuckyNay
D Yea
D Yea
D Yea
R AlaskaNay
D Yea
D Yea
D Nay
D Yea
D Yea
D Yea
R IdahoNay
R KansasNay
D Yea
I Yea
D Yea
R AlabamaNay
D Yea
R AlabamaNay
R MaineYea
D Yea
D Yea
D Yea
R South DakotaNay
D Yea
D Yea
R Nay
R Nay
D Yea
D Yea
D Yea
R Nay
D Yea

Kagan's swearing-in ceremony as Associate Justice took place on August 7, 2010, at the White House. Chief Justice John Roberts administered the prescribed constitutional and judicial oaths of office, at which time she became the 112th justice (100th associate justice) of the Supreme Court.[20] [21]

See also

Further reading

External links

Notes and References

  1. Rehnquist and Powell were nominated by Richard Nixon in 1971 to fill two simultaneous vacancies arising from the retirements and imminent deaths of John Marshall Harlan II and Hugo Black. They took their positions on the bench on the same date – January 7, 1972
  2. News: De Vogue. Ariane. Liberal Justice John Paul Stevens to Retire From Court. April 9, 2010. ABC News. June 20, 2019.
  3. News: Profiles of three possible successors to Justice John Paul Stevens. April 10, 2010. Los Angeles Times. June 20, 2019.
  4. News: Obama chooses Elena Kagan for Supreme Court. CNN. May 12, 2010. June 20, 2019.
  5. News: Kagan Likely To Be Pressed On Writings, Experience. May 10, 2010. NPR. June 20, 2019.
  6. Web site: McMillion. Barry J.. Rutkus. Denis Steven. July 6, 2018. Supreme Court Nominations, 1789 to 2017: Actions by the Senate, the Judiciary Committee, and the President. CRS Report (RL33225). Congressional Research Service. Washington, D.C.. June 17, 2019.
  7. Web site: Dwyer. Devin. Wolf. Z. Byron. Karl. Jonathan. Elena Kagan: Obama Nom Heads to Senate. May 10, 2010. ABC News. June 22, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20100514161322/https://abcnews.go.com/WN/Supreme_Court/elena-kagan-obama-praises-fourth-woman-nominated-supreme/story?id=10603515. May 14, 2010. live.
  8. News: Kagan Quizzed About Thurgood Marshall's Record . June 29, 2010 . . https://web.archive.org/web/20100704094614/https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128195737 . July 4, 2010 . live.
  9. News: Kyl: GOP won't filibuster Kagan. Marr. Kendra. May 16, 2010. Politico. June 1, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20160407191410/https://www.politico.com/story/2010/05/kyl-gop-wont-filibuster-kagan-037308. April 7, 2016. live.
  10. News: Some in GOP backing Kagan. The Boston Globe. June 2, 2010. June 1, 2019. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20121026024619/http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2010/06/02/some_in_gop_backing_kagan/. October 26, 2012.
  11. News: 69 law school deans endorse Kagan in letter to Senate . The Washington Post . 2010-06-15 . 2010-07-01 . Amy . Goldstein . https://web.archive.org/web/20101201023522/https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/15/AR2010061503678.html?hpid=topnews . December 1, 2010 . live.
  12. James Oliphant, NRA opposes Kagan confirmation, L.A. Times (July 2, 2010).
  13. News: Kagan expected to be confirmed to Supreme Court with little Republican support . The Washington Post . 2010-07-01 . 2010-07-12 . Paul . Kane . Amy . Goldstein . https://web.archive.org/web/20100703074000/https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/07/01/AR2010070106498.html . July 3, 2010 . live.
  14. Web site: Live-blogging the Kagan hearing . June 28, 2010 . June 28, 2010 . . Dann, Carrie . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20100630214041/http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2010/06/28/4575986-live-blogging-the-kagan-hearing- . June 30, 2010 .
  15. News: Kagan hearings witness list released. The Washington Post .
  16. News: Republicans force one-week delay in Judiciary panel's Kagan vote. Crabtree. Susan. July 13, 2010. The Hill. June 1, 2019.
  17. News: Judiciary Committee approves Elena Kagan for the Supreme Court, sending nomination to Senate. July 20, 2010. . Fox News . Associated Press . June 1, 2019.
  18. News: Kagan confirmed to Supreme Court. Crabtree. Susan. Rushing. J. Taylor. August 6, 2010. The Hill. June 1, 2019.
  19. News: Senate Confirms Elena Kagan to Supreme Court. Dwyer. Devin. Jaffe. Jeff. August 5, 2010. ABC News. June 1, 2019.
  20. News: Kagan sworn in as Supreme Court justice: She won't be formally installed as a justice until Oct. 1. https://web.archive.org/web/20131002162722/http://www.nbcnews.com/id/38591634. dead. October 2, 2013. Julie Hirschfeld Davis. August 7, 2010. August 7, 2010. Associated Press.
  21. Web site: Associate Justice Elena Kagan Swearing-in Ceremony. Supreme Court of the United States. Washington, D.C.. June 22, 2019.