Elena Kagan: Basic Background

As noted in two previous posts about the current nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court, Elena Kagan (here and here) has a somewhat skimpy record, particularly as it relates to labor and employment issues. It’s still worth trying to determine (or guess) what kind of justice she would be on these issues.

First, some basic facts: 50 years old and single; undergraduate degree from Princeton, summa cum laude; Masters in Philosophy from Worcester College at Oxford; law degree from Harvard, supervising editor of the Harvard Law Review, magna cum laude.

Kagan clerked for Judge Abner Mikva of the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia and then for Justice Thurgood Marshall while he was a member of the Supreme Court. She practiced law for two years with the law firm of Williams & Connolly in Washington, arguably the only non-government or non-academic job she’s held.

Kagan then became an assistant professor at the University of Chicago Law School. At Chicago, she received the graduating students’ award for teaching excellence and was tenured in short order.

While Bill Clinton was President, Kagan served as Associate Counsel to the President and Deputy Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy and Deputy Director of the Domestic Policy Council.

She next became a professor of law at Harvard where she taught administrative law, constitutional law, civil procedure and seminars on the separation of powers. Kagan became the first woman to serve as Dean of the Harvard Law School.

She became the first woman to serve in her current position of Solicitor General. If confirmed to the Supreme Court, Kagan would be the youngest member of the Court and the third woman on the current Court. She would be the first justice in nearly four decades without any previous judicial experience.

Stay tuned for more substantive information.