President Obama has selected the next member of the U.S. Supreme Court.
It's Elena Kagan. Kagan, if everything goes through as expected, will be the youngest member at "just" 50 years of age, and the third woman on the court.
This, of course, benefits Democrats to have someone so young sitting in on the senate; she has lots of time left to serve her lifelong time in the nation's most powerful judicial court.
I knew none of the options for the next Supreme Court member were exactly good ones. I wasn't expecting anything terrific to come out of this. The woman is a huge fan of executive power, which doesn't sit well with my citizen-centered mindset.
But I suppose things could be worse -- as they always could be.
Obama, as some publications (New York Times including) say, wasn't necessarily looking for the most liberal-minded candidate he could find. Kagan has won the support of Republicans at some levels.
Some interesting facts about Kagain:
- She was the first female dean at Harvard Law School
- She will be the first member of the Supreme Court with no judicial experience in about 40 years
People are saying Kagan is a safe pick. At the same time, people aren't too sure of her stance on many of the key issues. It's even uncertain as to how liberal or conservative she will be. In some ways, she was almost a shoe-in. But in others, she's a bit of a surprise bag.
Sotomayor was extremely clear on her positions. Kagan? Not so much. Sotomayor had a heart-wrenching tale about going from poverty to success. What does Kagan have? We'll see. She has lots of experience -- as an academic and as a government official. None as a judge. Maybe that's what Obama was looking for.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/10/us/politics/10court.html?hp
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2011860809_kagan14.html
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/may/09/ap-kagan-obamas-supreme-court-pick/
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