Elena Kagan | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Official portrait, 2013 | |
| Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States | |
| Assumed office August 7, 2010 | |
| Nominated by | Barack Obama |
| Preceded by | John Paul Stevens |
| 45th Solicitor General of the United States | |
| In office March 19, 2009 – May 17, 2010 | |
| President | Barack Obama |
| Deputy | Neal Katyal[1] |
| Preceded by | Edwin Kneedler[2] (acting) |
| Succeeded by | Neal Katyal[1] (acting) |
| 11th Dean of Harvard Law School | |
| In office July 1, 2003 – March 19, 2009 | |
| Preceded by | Robert Clark |
| Succeeded by | Martha Minow |
| Deputy Director of the Domestic Policy Council | |
| In office 1997–2000 | |
| President | Bill Clinton |
| Preceded by | Jeremy Ben-Ami[3] |
| Succeeded by | Eric Liu[4] |
| Personal details | |
| Born | April 28, 1960 New York City, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic[5] |
| Education | |
| Signature |  |
| This article is part of a series on |
| Liberalism in the United States |
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Elena Kagan (/ˈkeɪɡən/ KAY-guhn; born April 28, 1960) is an American lawyer who serves as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. She was appointed in 2010 by President Barack Obama and is the fourth woman to serve on the Court.
Kagan was born and raised in New York City. After graduating from Princeton University, Worcester College, Oxford, and Harvard Law School, she clerked for a federal Court of Appeals judge and for Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall. She began her career as a professor at the University of Chicago Law School, leaving to serve as Associate White House Counsel, and later as a policy adviser under President Bill Clinton. After a nomination to the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, which expired without action, she became a professor at Harvard Law School and was later named its first female dean.
In 2009, Kagan became the first female solicitor general of the United States.[6] The following year, President Obama nominated her to the Supreme Court to fill the vacancy arising from the impending retirement of Justice John Paul Stevens. The United States Senate confirmed her nomination by a vote of 63–37. As of 2022, she is the most recent justice appointed without any prior judicial experience. She favored a consensus-building approach until the conservative supermajority's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. She has written the majority opinion in some landmark cases, such as Cooper v. Harris, Chiafalo v. Washington, and Kisor v. Wilkie, as well as several notable dissenting opinions, such as in Rucho v. Common Cause, West Virginia v. EPA, Brnovich v. DNC, Janus v. AFSCME, and Seila Law v. CFPB.
- ^ a b Goldstein, Tom (August 13, 2010). "Anticipating the next Solicitor General". SCOTUSblog. Archived from the original on December 16, 2018. Retrieved December 12, 2018.
- ^ Markon, Jerry (July 31, 2010). "Edwin Kneedler a 'savvy' choice to argue suit against Ariz. immigration law". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on August 19, 2018. Retrieved December 12, 2018.
- ^ Warshaw, Shirley Anne (2013). Guide to the White House Staff. CQ Press. p. 445. ISBN 9781452234328. Archived from the original on November 8, 2021. Retrieved December 12, 2018.
- ^ Warshaw, Shirley Anne (2013). Guide to the White House Staff. CQ Press. p. 458. ISBN 9781452234328. Archived from the original on November 8, 2021. Retrieved December 12, 2018.
- ^ Weiss, Debra Cassens (February 3, 2020). "Which SCOTUS justices are registered Democrats or Republicans? Fix the Court investigates". ABA Journal. Retrieved March 9, 2024.
- ^ "Elena Kagan | United States jurist | Britannica". www.britannica.com. April 24, 2023. Retrieved May 25, 2023.