Obama nominates Kagan to Supreme Court
President Obama nominated Solicitor General Elena Kagan to succeed retiring Justice John Paul Stevens on the U.S. Supreme Court.
Obama evoked former Justice Thurgood Marshall's, for whom Kagan clerked early in her career, when he described his nominee's qualifications to sit on the court.
"That understanding of law, not as an intellectual exercise or words on a page, but as it affects the lives of ordinary people, has animated every step of Elena's career -- including her service as Solicitor General today," the president said.
Born in New York City, Kagan, 50, attended Princeton University. She later became a law professor at the University of Chicago Law School and dean of the Harvard Law School. Kagan also served as associate White House counsel under former President Bill Clinton.
Obama nominated her to be his Solicitor General in Jan. 2009, but she supported a ban on military recruiters on campus over Don't Ask, Don't Tell as dean of the Harvard Law School. The school's anti-discrimination policy mandates any employer who actively recruits on campus cannot discriminate against a perspective employee based on their sexual orientation. Kagan reluctantly allowed recruiters back on campus after Washington threatened to withhold federal funding to the school, but she opined against DADT in an Oct. 2003 letter.
"This action causes me deep distress, as I know it does a great many others," she wrote. "I abhor the military's discriminatory recruitment policy. The importance of the military to our society-and the extraordinary service that members of the military provide to all the rest of us - makes this discrimination more, not less, repugnant."
Kagan further describes Don't Ask, Don't Tell as a "profound wrong-a moral injustice of the first order," but she herself has faced persistent speculation over her sexual orientation. The White House dismissed Ben Domenech's assertion last month Kagan's nomination would have pleased the president's base because she would have been the "first openly gay justice."
Rumors aside, the Human Rights Campaign hailed Kagan's nomination.
"We are confident that Elena Kagan has a demonstrated understanding and commitment to protecting the liberty and equality of all Americans, including LGBT Americans," said HRC President Joe Solmonese.
Kagan alluded to her tenure at Harvard in her remarks at the White House.
"I am proud of all we have accomplished there," she said.
New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn also applauded Kagan's nomination. And in a statement, she singled out Kagan's position on DADT.
"Elena Kagan is an admirable leader and I am confident she will use the law to serve and protect a broad range of Americans, but especially those who need it most," added Quinn. "I know Solicitor General Kagan will continue her record of service as a Supreme Court justice and I look forward to the day her nomination is confirmed."
Kagan would become the fourth woman to sit on the Supreme Court if she is confirmed.