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Senate Confirms Elena Kagan as Solicitor General

By Jeralyn, Section Obama Administration
Posted on Thu Mar 19, 2009 at 09:27:44 PM EST
Tags: Elena Kagan (all tags)
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Elena Kagan, of Massachusetts has been confirmed by a vote of 61 to 31 as Solicitor General.

Kagan became the first woman dean of Harvard Law School in 2003. Prior to that, she was President Bill Clinton's Associate White House Counsel. Clinton nominated her for a Court of Appeals judgeship but Sen. Orrin Hatch killed it.

She's known for being a legal scholar, not a trial lawyer.

Before this appointment she had limited courtroom experience (she has never argued a case at trial) and has not argued before the Supreme Court of the United States.

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    Senate Confirms Elena Kagan as Solicitor General | 8 comments (8 topical)

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    Excellent, (none / 0) (#1)
    by andgarden on Thu Mar 19, 2009 at 09:35:42 PM EST
    Specter voted against her though, which I find really pretty bizarre.

    Looking forward to her tenure (none / 0) (#2)
    by Radiowalla on Thu Mar 19, 2009 at 10:27:34 PM EST
    at the SG's office.

    I assume she will start tomorrow.  

    could that be a problem? (none / 0) (#3)
    by cpinva on Thu Mar 19, 2009 at 11:40:46 PM EST
    (she has never argued a case at trial)

    i'm probably wrong, but i was kind of under the impression that the solicitor general's job description included arguing cases, usually at the appelate level.

    while i recognize this is different from doing so before a jury, i would think some prior experience would be kind of helpful in the job.

    any thoughts on this from the lawyers here?

    Well (5.00 / 1) (#5)
    by Steve M on Thu Mar 19, 2009 at 11:51:45 PM EST
    As JFK supposedly said after nominating Bobby for AG, "the kid's gotta start somewhere."

    Parent
    Great (none / 0) (#4)
    by squeaky on Thu Mar 19, 2009 at 11:51:37 PM EST
    Hatch was for stuffing the courts with right wing judges. He voted for (YEA) Elena Kagan this time around.

    No matter that Hatch has spent the past three years fighting nonstop to confirm George Bush's judicial nominees.

    [snip]

     

    But the institution got to Hatch. He started flashing a softer side. In 1986 he held the first Senate hearing on AIDS, at which he hugged a victim of the disease. He also befriended Sen. Ted Kennedywill support Obama's appointees as

    I hope that Hatch's yea vote means that he has decided that the President has a right to appoint nominees of his or her choosing. And he will support that right.

    You're being needlessly politically (none / 0) (#6)
    by tigercourse on Fri Mar 20, 2009 at 02:05:07 AM EST
    correct. Stop wasting your time. It's "his" not hers. There has never been a female President. It's like saying "his or hers" when talking about a Catholic Priest.

    Parent
    Hardly (none / 0) (#8)
    by squeaky on Fri Mar 20, 2009 at 02:05:02 PM EST
    Clearly using 'he' for a hypothetical regarding the POTUS is sexist. Them days is over..

    Parent
    bad analogies (none / 0) (#7)
    by cpinva on Fri Mar 20, 2009 at 02:30:16 AM EST
    It's like saying "his or hers" when talking about a Catholic Priest.

    make idiotic posts.

    the US constitution contains no prohibition on female presidents, catholic doctrine does on female priests. that a female president has yet to be elected is irrelevant.

    Senate Confirms Elena Kagan as Solicitor General | 8 comments (8 topical)

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