A lot of people have been asking me over the last few days whether or not I think President Obama will go for a bold nominee or select a safe person who can be easily confirmed. Frankly, I’m not sure but if I had to bet my house it would be on Elena Kagan. If [...]

Well, I made a mistake yesterday. Relying on the WSJ Law Blog’s onsite observer, I reported that General Kagan had worn a blue pants suit. I was wrong. In fact, the Washington Post and Above the Law are now reporting that General Kagan chose a black suit with a light blue blouse with which to [...]

For all the trivia nerds out there, I forgot to mention two important, but oft-unmentioned facts about yesterday’s argument. General Kagan opted not to wear the traditional grey morning coat that male Solicitors General wear. Instead, according to the WSJ Law Blog, she wore a blue pants suit. Of course, the writing was on the [...]

To sum up my views on the oral arguments today: we saw it coming. Justice Sotomayor lined up in exactly the position she was expected take and the same goes for each of the other eight Justices. In the end, it looks like her position will be a minority one. Solicitor General Kagan did a [...]

As Elena Kagan’s debut before the Supreme Court grows closer, I’ve been thinking about how her past experiences will influence her performance as Solicitor General. The fact that I’m reading Between Law & Politics, Richard Pacelle’s fascinating look into the world of the Solicitor General, didn’t hurt either. Before I go any further, I should [...]

Solicitor General Kagan has filed a motion for divided argument in Citizens United v. FEC, according to SCOTUSblog. If the motion is granted, the division would create for a very interesting dynamic for the Court’s special September 9 sitting. 30 minutes – Ted Olson 20 minutes – Elena Kagan 10 minutes – Seth Waxman Frequent [...]

Tony Mauro is reporting that Solicitor General may wait until next term to argue her first case before the Supreme Court. It had been reported earlier that she might argue for the first time in the landmark Voting Rights Act case, Northwest Austin Municipal Utility District v. Holder. Mauro is now reporting that Neal Katyal [...]

It now appears as though the much-anticipated case al-Marri v. Spagone (08-368) won’t be heard by the Supreme Court. al-Marri has gotten a taste of some change he can believe in, courtesy of the Obama administration. The United States Circuit Court for the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals had ruled en banc last June that [...]

Barack Obama has announced that he will appoint Harvard Law School Dean Elena Kagen to be his Solicitor General. The two taught together at the University of Chicago in the early 1990s, and before that she clerked for Abner Mikva on the DC Circuit and Thurgood Marshall on the Supreme Court. She clerked for Marshall [...]