Elena Kagan’s Double Standard

Brian Darling / May 11, 2010

President Obama’s nominated Solicitor General of the United States, Elena Kagan to be justice on the Supreme Court yesterday.  Kagan has no judicial experience and a scant record of writing, but Kagan did express a very illuminating opinion concerning the Senate’s confirmation process.  In a book review of “The Confirmation Mess” by Stephen L. Carter in the Spring of 1995, Elena Kagan wrote:

When the Senate ceases to engage nominees in a meaningful discussion of legal issues, the confirmation process takes on an air of vacuity and farce, and the Senate becomes incapable of either properly evaluating nominees or appropriately educating the public.

Senators should apply the Kagan Standard to Elena Kagan.  Both Republican and Democrat Presidents have been guilty of nominating candidates for the federal bench that refuse to answer direct questions about their judicial philosophy.  (more…)