13 Comments

I appreciate Kagan's varied path through politics and academia. It gives me comfort to know that it's ok to have a stable though winding road. I also appreciate that she's a bridge-builder. Seems like we could use more of that spirit around.

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You did justice to this justice. Thanks for sharing!

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She gets it! Bridge builders are priceless.

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I hope someday we see Justice Kagen as Chief Justice. She has the right temperament for the position. Thank you for the lovely background piece Sharon. These have been wonderful!

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It is so interesting that after the court voted to overturn the federal right to abortion, her attitude, like so many of ours, changed.

I am grateful to learn about her, and grateful to have her on this court.

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Thank you for this Sharon! I realized that I knew nothing about Elena Kagan and now I do!

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Elena Kagan is the kind of person whom I want to be a Justice of the Supreme Court. It seems that she’s a person who thinks for herself and is not pressured into thinking or voting a certain way or political idea. Thank you for sharing about her life.

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Very interesting read. I hope she can continue to be a bridge builder; it’s desperately needed right now.

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I feel so frustrated. Not at Justice Kagen but at the situation we are in as a country. Why do we have a court that makes it impossible to prosecute presidents for any crime at worst (and gets any such accusations caught up in legal red tape for years at best)? Was it really that the Justices Trump chose were not up to the standards of the past and they are truly making political decisions? If not, as in assuming they were truly worthy candidates for the job and another president would have also looked at them as the obvious choice, why does one man hold so much power over those previously devoted to rule of law? Why oh why would they open the possibility of tyranny for the sake of protecting one man now?

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Also I’m curious about the detail that Sotomayer was picked as a “liberal firebrand”… did this political jockeying in the court start there? It seems like Obama’s nomination of Kagen was much more in line with how I hope presidents choose justices. As a citizen I want a balanced court that is actually guided by law and not beholden to the party that nominated them.

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The conservative patriarchy has solid history in the court. Of course the politics didn’t start with Obama. He actually showed that when he intentionally balanced the court. As we have seen, many viewpoints makes for a healthier court. We are out of balance now, and we live with the cascade of consequences.

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And, again, thank you! Well said!! Same!!!

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Thank you! Well said!!

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