King Hall Faculty Comment on Justice Kagan for Enterprise
Associate Dean Vikram Amar and Professors Diane Marie Amann and Alan Brownstein commented on the confirmation of Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan for an article in the Davis Enterprise.
The article, "UCD profs: 'Wait and see' on new justice," notes that one Justice Kagan's five scholarly articles was published in the UC Davis Law Review, and includes remarks from Associate Dean Amar and Professors Amann and Brownstein suggesting that Justice Kagan will probably take positions that are not far removed from those of Justice John Paul Stevens, whom she replaces.
Associate Dean Amar said Justice Kagan "avoids extreme positions, which I think you saw in the confirmation hearings and in her career progression. I think people expect that she'll be a liberal on this court, but probably not as liberal as the person she's replacing."
Professor Amann, who clerked for Justice Stevens, said that "It wouldn't surprise me if [Justice Kagan] is more welcoming of executive power, given that she spent most of her career in the executive branch. Justice Stevens never served in the executive branch and had more of a judge's perspective on things. She has a very different personality, so it will be interesting to see how she jells. Justice Stevens is modest, understated, and able to build coalitions through civility as well as ability. Justice Kagan is known for being more outspoken, so it will be a different mix among the nine."
Professor Brownstein said that Justice Kagan was a "safe nominee" for President Obama, and that her tenure on the Court would be unlikely to hold "any great surprise for the legal community" in terms of her ideological orientation.