Clinton Library Documents Offer Hints About Supreme Court Pick

Clinton Library Documents Offer Hints About Supreme Court Pick             Elena Kagan - nominated to the       U.S. Supreme Court With no judicial experience, family advocates rely on writings and former employers for clues to Kagan's judicial philosophy. Elena Kagan's nomination to a seat on the U.S. Supreme Court is still raising more questions than it's answering.  Even 46,000 pages of documents from the Clinton Library, released over the weekend, are offering precious little in the way of information. Republicans, looking for clues to Kagan's judicial philosophy, have turned to memos written throughout her career and to the judicial philosophies of those for whom she worked. Elena Kagan has contributed money to the National Partnership for Women and Families, which has ties to NARAL Pro-Choice America and Emily's List, an organization that helps get pro-abortion Democratic women elected to Congress. Carrie Severino, chief counsel and policy director of the Judicial Crisis Network, said the little information available is revealing. "A lot of people have been trying to paint her as a moderate," she said. "These documents really show that that's not who Elena Kagan really is." Kagan has also been an outspoken critic of Rust v. Sullivan.  In that case, the U.S. Supreme Court said Department of Health and Human Services regulations, which keep Title X family planning funds from paying for abortion programs, are constitutional. "Rust illustrates the way in which government funding may have both more potent and more disruptive effects than direct government speech," Kagan wrote in an article.  "How better, then, to communicate an anti-abortion message:  through direct speech or through selective subsidization of health care providers?  The latter course…wreaks havoc on the ability of those private parties in the best position to challenge the message to provide a counterweight to government authority." "That raises questions as to whether she'll be able to leave the politics behind, if she's on the Supreme Court," said Severino, "because it's a very different type of role." As counsel for President Clinton, Kagan worked on a memo regarding the partial-birth abortion ban legislation.  Clinton had vetoed the measure and several Democrats had offered amendments to the bill that made it ineffective, including Rep. Tom Daschle of South Dakota, whose amendment included broad exceptions that would have gutted the law. "We recommend that you endorse the Daschle amendment in order to sustain your credibility on HR 1122," she wrote, "and prevent Congress from overriding your veto." Tom Fitton, president of Judicial Watch, said there is little doubt where Kagan stands. "You see quite a radical liberal and President Obama knew what he was doing when he nominated her," he said.  "These documents are confirming that she's as far left as everyone suspected." Opponents to the nomination are also looking at those whom Kagan deems "heroes," including Aharon Barak, a retired chief judge of the Supreme Court of Israel, who was made famous by his willingness to legislate from the bench. Barak was awarded the Peter Gruber Foundation Justice Prize at Harvard Law School in 2006. In her introduction of Barak, Kagan called him "my judicial hero.  He is the judge who has best advanced democracy, human rights, the rule of law and justice." But it should be noted that Israel does not have a Constitution, so following Barak's example that a judge "should adapt the law to life's changing needs," does not work in the U.S.  "The question Americans want answered?" Fitton asked, "Is this the type of person we want appointed to the highest court in the land?" Contact: Kim Trobee Source: CitizenLink Publish Date: June 7, 2010 Link to this article. Send this article to a friend.