Elena Kagan: Does it matter she's never been a judge?

In her 30 years as a lawyer, scholar and Harvard dean, Solicitor General Kagan has never wielded a gavel. Is that a deal-breaker?

Elena Kagan has no judicial experience. Does that matter?
(Image credit: Getty)

Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan has never been a judge, but is that a selling point or a deal-breaker? It's a plus to come from outside the "judicial monastery," say her supporters, who point out that 41 of the 111 Supreme Court justices had no prior judicial experience. (At a 1971 Nixon-era confirmation, the job criteria were listed as: "personal integrity...professional competence, and "an abiding fidelity to the Constitution.") But opponents say sitting on the bench has become an unwritten job prerequisite. Does this gap in Kagan's résumé matter? (Watch Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) claim Kagan's unqualified)

No. This is just partisan politics: There are credible reasons to oppose Kagan's nomination, but lack of judicial experience isn't one of them, says Greg Sargent in The Washington Post, especially since Republican senators have historically "failed to apply this standard to nominees they supported," like George Bush's catastrophic nominee Harriet Miers — or former Chief Justice William Rehnquist.

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