Elena Kagan: The Woman Everybody Wants To Know More About

A high school student in New York during the 70s dreamed of one day becoming a Supreme Court Justice. Now, for Elena Kagan, more than thirty years later, that aspiration may very well be coming true. President Obama’s Supreme Court nominee, Elena Kagan, is poised to replace Justice John Paul Stevens if her nomination is approved by the Senate. If appointed she would be the third woman serving on the Supreme Court, the most women ever seated on the court at the same time, making the composition of the Justices a third female. With diversity on the horizon, it is easy to get excited about Elena Kagan’s nomination without even knowing anything about her.

For the past thirty years, Kagan has been working all over the academic and political circuits. Paticular highlights of her political career include clerking for Justice Thurgood Marshall, working on Vice President Joe Biden’s staff when he was a senator, working for Clinton’s administration and currently serving as the United States’ Solicitor General, representing the United States in front of the Supreme Court. Elena Kagan has a long history as a professor, earning tenure at University of Chicago before going to work for the Clinton administration than as Dean of Harvard Law School. Kagan is no stranger to breaking barriers for women, serving as the first female Dean of Harvard Law School and first female Solicitor General. Becoming the third woman on the Supreme Court seems like a practical next step.

Many nuances and details of Kagan’s political and ideological stances are not known, mostly because she’s served in academia instead of as a judge, but throughout her life she has taken some important actions that reveal a bit about her political character. While serving as the Dean of Harvard Law School, Kagan supported the Law School’s ban on military recruiters as a protest of the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell (DADT) policy, which bars out LGBT men and women from serving in the military. Harvard has a strong commitment to support it’s LGBT students and perceives DADT as discrimination. By standing up against discrimination and in support of her students, Kagan exemplified her qualities of fairness and justice when it comes to discrimination. She’s also written about free speech throughout her career, a topic that sparks her interest and her intellect.

Kagan has avoided ideological stances in favor of approaching things that have an “intellectual puzzle,” making it difficult for her critics to pick apart her stances on important issues. Instead criticism of Kagan has focused on her lack of judicial experience, if nominated she would be the only Supreme Court Justice who had never previously served as a Judge. Although recently, most Justices have previously served as Judges, before the 1970s it was not uncommon for lawyers, professors and politicians to be nominated to the Supreme Court. Her supporters say that her lack of judicial experience is a good thing, bringing a fresh perspective to the court. Certainly, she’s not inexperienced with the Supreme Court, serving as Solicitor General for over a year and as a law professor at the most elite schools in the country. Her communication and people skills as a good listener and persuader make her a valuable candidate in a Court that’s sharply divided.

As her hearing draws nearer, don’t anticipate hearing any less about Elena Kagan. A private woman in terms of her political opinions and personal life, the media of course is trying to find out as much as they can about her. Among rumors about her sexuality, the important things sometimes get overshadowed. The debate will continue on both sides, until eventually the vote is tallied. Until then it’s a waiting game as we continue to learn more and more about the woman who may be breaking another huge barrier for women in the political arena.