Kagan Hearing Recap

The hearings on the nomination of Elena Kagan to be Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court ended with a whimper rather than a bang.  In an op ed piece in last weekend’s Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, I reviewed the arguments put forth by her critics and found them wanting.  You can read my piece here.

My colleague Rick Esenberg had a different view of the nomination.  You can read Rick’s piece here.

It seems that the Kagan hearing failed to generate much interest.  Given the scant written record of the nominee, there was simply not much to get excited about.  She has a long and distinguished professional career, but her various positions as law clerk, executive branch policy advisor and Solicitor General all involve the application of her personal talents in the furtherance of someone else’s agenda.  As a law school dean, she conciliated between factions rather than advocating one particular viewpoint.  One looks in vain for written expressions of her personal views on controversial legal issues.

Continue ReadingKagan Hearing Recap

Best of the Blogs

Time for a new feature here at the Marquette University Faculty Blog.  From time to time the editors of the blog will share links to some of the more interesting recent law-related posts appearing on the blogosphere.  I will get things started.

Over at Scotusblog, Tom Goldstein has an excellent round up of the recently concluded Supreme Court term.  It is commonplace to read broad generalizations about the Roberts Court in the media lately, for example during the hearings on the nomination of Elena Kagan.  Is this an activist Court, rejecting precedent and beholden to corporate interests?  Or has the Court found its moorings once again after years of drifting along according to the whims of Justice Kennedy?  Tom takes a cold hard look at the evidence, and his conclusions may surprise you.  You can read his post here.

Continue ReadingBest of the Blogs

Super Mujer: Justice Sonia Sotomayor as a Role Model

When President Barack Obama nominated Justice Sonia Sotomayor a year ago, the debate surrounding her confirmation included a wide array of scrutiny.  Some of the items of discussion were more relevant and more substantive than others.

As the US Supreme Court’s first Latina, third female, and first Type 1 Diabetic to serve on the bench, the greatest amount of focus seemed to fall upon her non-legal, personal history.  Particularly, as this blog has noted, the confirmation hearings concentrated on whether that personal history and her self-identified “Wise Latina”-ness would enhance or detract from her ability to effectively and fairly “say what the law is.”

Nearly a year after her confirmation, the evaluation of the Wise Latina’s first session as a Justice has already begun.  But what if, a year later, we approached the discussion concerning her role on the Court from another direction?  Instead of a debate centered only on Justice Sotomayor’s specific job performance, the discussion might also include the value that comes from choosing a role model that can inspire the underrepresented within the legal community.

Continue ReadingSuper Mujer: Justice Sonia Sotomayor as a Role Model
Newer Posts
Older Posts