Solicitor General Elena Kagan nominated to Supreme Court
May 10, 2010
Washington, D.C.: The Solicitor General of the United States, Elena Kagan, has been nominated by President Obama for a seat on the Supreme Court of the United States. She was nominated on May 10, 2010 to fill the seat that will be vacated with the June 2010 retirement of John Paul Stevens.[1] Obama said "Elena is widely regarded as one of the nation's foremost legal minds".[2]
Kagan's background as a academic scholar had positioned her as a possible candidate to be nominated to the United States Supreme Court under the Obama administration, and throughout early 2010, she was widely regarded as being on Obama's short list for a possible nomination. With her 61-31 confirmation vote from the Senate in 2009 for Solicitor General, Kagan is expected to continue to have modest Republican support.[2][3][4]
Ms. Kagan has not served as a state or federal judge. Every other member of the current court is a former federal appeals court judge. The last time a non-judge was appointed to the Supreme Court was in 1972, when Richard Nixon appointed William H. Rehnquist and Lewis Powell.[5]
If confirmed by the U.S. Senate, she will be the youngest person on the court, the third woman on the current court, and the fourth woman in history to be a Supreme Court Justice.[6]
Footnotes
- ↑ The White House Blog "One of the Nation's Leading Legal Minds: The President Nominates Elena Kagan for the Supreme Court'," May 10, 2010
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Fox News.com "Obama Nominates Kagan for Supreme Court," May 10, 2010
- ↑ Obama's Choices: Gird Your Loins
- ↑ National Public Radio, "Supreme Court Justice Souter To Retire," April 30, 2009
- ↑ Washington Post, "Elena Kagan said to be Obama's Supreme Court pick," May 10, 2010
- ↑ MSNBC, "NBC: Obama to name Kagan for high court," May 10, 2010
| |||||
