Hear Ye! Hearing!
In the few short weeks since her nomination to the Supreme Court, Elena Kagan has been transformed from a relatively-obscure political figure into practically a household name. And rightfully so. Supreme Court Justices have more of an impact on American life than most other people serving in our nation's government, largely because they serve lifetime appointments. And being a Supreme Court Justice an achievement and an honor that only 111 other Americans--only three of them women-- have ever obtained.
Accordingly, Solicitor General Kagan has been quite busy in the past few weeks, meeting with influential Senators in a series of "courtesy calls," and compiling all of the information for the 202-page questionnaire that she submitted to the Senate Judiciary Committee earlier this week.
On Wednesday, Senator Patrick Leahy, Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, announced that the hearings on Solicitor General Kagan's nomination will begin on Monday, June 28th. The hearings are a critical piece of the Senate's process of "advise and consent." At the hearings, which will likely last for close to a full week, each member of the Judiciary Committee will have multiple opportunities to ask Solicitor General Kagan questions about the issues that are most important to them and their constituencies. Hopefully, Solicitor General Kagan's answers will give us a better sense of her judicial philosophy, temperament approach to the law.
And, the hearings will give the Reform Movement a chance to promote productive debate on the issues that we care most about. That is why we have set up a special site, www.AskElenaKagan.com, asking for YOUR questions for Solicitor General Kagan. When we communicate our Movement's priorities to the Judiciary Committee in the coming weeks, we want to be sure that YOUR priorities are included on that list. So, if you haven't already done so, submit your questions to www.AskElenaKagan.comand stay tuned to the RAC blog for further updates on Solicitor General Kagan's progress through the nominations process.
(Did you miss Monday's faith-community conference call Solicitor General Kagan, featuring Rabbi Saperstein and Patricia Millet of Akin Gump? Don't Worry! You can download a recording of the call here.)