So Kagan gets the nod from the President. It is intriguing that she would be the first justice in 40 years without experience on the bench and will join two other justices of Jewish faith and six Catholics. Assuming she is confirmed, what should we expect from the SCOTUS in the future?

She can't be any more liberal than Stevens.

Her confirmation hearings should be interesting, at least. Given that she wrote extensively on the subject that SCOTUS nominees should be questioned about their general judicial philosophy AND specific constitutional issues that they might face, will she be able to offer the traditional non-answers on those subjects that everyone else does?

That was then, this is now.

I'm sure she'll offer the same non-answers, but it should at least be entertaining having her explain why only an idiot would think she should answer them.

With no shortage of idiots in DC I feel certain the questioning will be widely entertaining to those of us who can name the current members of the Supreme Court. To the general public, not so much.

quote:

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Originally posted by AndreaW:
Her confirmation hearings should be interesting, at least. Given that she wrote extensively on the subject that SCOTUS nominees should be questioned about their general judicial philosophy AND specific constitutional issues that they might face, will she be able to offer the traditional non-answers on those subjects that everyone else does?

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We already know YOU would tell them what you really think! Another missed opportunity for our President. He could've chosen Andrea...

He's saving me for later in his term when he has to appease the Republican majority.

And you thought that Gun Control, brought to you by Slick Willie, was a thing of the past...What happened to the Second Amendment?

Kagan a veteran of Clinton White House

The Supreme Court nominee helped draft contentious policies on welfare reform, gun control and tobacco regulation.

She had come to the Clinton domestic policy shop in 1997 after serving as an administration lawyer. By the time she left two years later, she had put her stamp on the office, a unit that took on tobacco and gun industries, advocated campaign finance reform, backed affirmative action and worked to preserve abortion rights.

A centrist course meant negotiating with the firearms industry on a deal to put child-safety locks on guns rather than risk a legislative showdown. Gun-control efforts were a hallmark of the Clinton administration. Kagan had already been involved in an executive order that required all federal law enforcement officers to install locks on their weapons.

Those moves angered the National Rifle Assn., which became even more alarmed in late 1998 when Clinton proposed closing the "gun show" loophole that allowed firearms purchases without background checks. A legislative effort to do just that was launched as Kagan departed the White House for Harvard in 1999.

Richard Feldman, a former firearms lobbyist who helped broker the trigger-lock deal with Emanuel, said the NRA could make trouble for Kagan simply because she was part of the White House efforts at the time. "They'll try to use it against her," Feldman said. "They'll find a memo."

Read the rest of the article here...

How to become a Supreme with no real lawyering experience but great liberal connections