This morning, the press was given a chance to gaze upon a new portrait by Nelson Shanks featuring Justice Sonia Sotomayor, Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, Justice Elena Kagan and Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg. Close-up after the jump.
The appointments of Justices Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor caused liberals to wring their hands with worry. What if they weren't liberal enough? What was the President doing? Liberals, breathe a sigh of relief for now. They're kicking ass.
Amanda Hess offers this compendium of Pulitzer-winning fashion critic Robin Givhan's underminery. "Kagan's version of middle-age seems stuck in a time warp, back when 50-something did not mean Kim Cattrall or Sharon Stone, Cougar Town or Sex and the City."
The Log Cabin Republicans are asking the Supreme Court to overrule the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, which decided to keep "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" in place while it prepares to hear arguments on the issue at a future date.
Today during her first real day on the job, Elena Kagan will meet privately with fellow justices to decide which cases will be heard. This first meeting with a new colleague is said to be anxiety-producing even for veteran justices.
[Washington, D.C., August 7. Image via AP.]
A Senate vote of 63-37 has confirmed President Obama's nomination of Elena Kagan to the Supreme Court. (That included five Republicans, compared to nine for Sonia Sotomayor.) She'll be the fourth female Justice to serve.
Women — especially moms — are underrepresented in top corporate and government jobs. But is what looks like inequality actually a savvy choice by women themselves?
Nearly all Democrats and some Republicans are expected to vote to confirm Elena Kagan as a Supreme Court Justice — the fourth woman on the Court. The debate goes to the Senate floor starting today.
Yesterday, we learned
The Senate Judiciary Committee just voted 13-6 to confirm Elena Kagan's nomination to the Supreme Court. Lindsey Graham was her only Republican supporter, and many others were worried she was a liberal "activist" who hated marriage and the military.
Evidently David Letterman feels like it's been long enough since all that hostile work environment stuff
Senator Dianne Feinstein asked Kagan whether she believes the constitution requires any abortion-related statute to protect the woman's health. Kagan replied that "putting [late-term] procedure[s] aside...the continuing holdings of the court" protect the woman's life and health. [RHRC]
Above The Law gives Elena Kagan's hearings the Us Weekly treatment; readers overwhelmingly preferred Elena Kagan's blue blazer and black shirt to Sonia Sotomayor's. By Day 2 of her hearings, Kagan's already won the battle that counts. [Above The Law]
[Washington, D.C., June 28. Image via Getty]
Confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan begin today at 12:30pm EST. But what about those dogged lesbian rumors? The right wing will no doubt demonstrate how to handle all that!
Americans United for Life is calling Elena Kagan, whose confirmation hearings begin in a week, a "pro-abortion activist." Unfortunately, actual abortion-rights activists are far from convinced.
46,000 pages of documents have just been released from Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan's work in the Clinton Administration. (Friday! Convenient!) They're still being sifted through, but so far there's not much to allay pro-choice fears.
Like attending a women's college, drinking beer from the bottle, and having sex with other women, softball has long been recognized as a sure sign of homosexuality. "If you play, you're probably gay," clarifies the L.A. Times.
It's not often that the Senate chamber talks fashion criticism, but yesterday, Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar was sufficiently irritated by Robin Givhan's Washington Post piece to chastise her for her Kagan critique.
Another major staging of political theater, another opportunity for the Washington Post's Robin Givhan to offend with her fashion close readings. This weekend: Elena Kagan. Bonus: Givhan's existential angst about why "serious" people — especially in Washington — hate fashion.
Dahlia Lithwick points out that in the absence of very much information, Elena Kagan's life choices have become ways for commentators to project their own anxieties. Currently up: Not having children.
"When does a woman go from being single to unmarried?" asks Austen-lover
"Let me be clear: the issue is not the fact that Scalia has chosen to have nine children. That is his personal business. The question is whether he is an extremist advocate of the so-called 'Nine Children Agenda.'" [Atlantic]
By this morning, scrutiny
A new book, John Schwartz's Short: Walking Tall When You're Not Tall at All is aimed at vertically-challenged teens. So is human growth-hormone. And the fact that Thurgood Marshall nicknamed clerk Elena Kagan "Shorty" is not incidental to this discussion:
The kerfuffle over what Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan does or does not do in her bed on her own time — and whether this will affect her ability to reason over legal issues — boils down to straight sexism.
One of the many outstanding questions about Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan concerns her precise views on abortion rights, and how strongly she might advocate for them. The answer, when not entirely opaque, is complex.
