Elena Kagan

Elena Kagan is a justice on the United States Supreme Court. She was sworn in on August 7, 2010 after the U.S. Senate confirmed her by a vote of 63 to 37 and she became the third woman to sit on the court, along with Sonia Sotomayor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg.http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/editorial/bs-ed-kagan-confirmation-20100808,0,5931637.story Prior to serving on the Court, Kagan was the U.S. Solicitor General and represented the U.S. Justice Department before the Court.http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2009/01/05/more-obama-justice-dept-picks-announced/?fbid=1ia3xVPA6RG She also served as a clerk to former Supreme Court justice Thurgood Marshall.http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/k/kagan_elena/index.html Kagan's lack of judicial experience was a lightning rod for critics who charged that she was too inexperienced for the Court. But she won over enough support during her confirmation by her carefully worded and moderate answers to high-profile topics, such as gay marriage.http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/k/kagan_elena/index.html

Kagan was nominated to the Supreme Court by President Barack Obama. Stevens announced his decision to retire on April 9, 2010 and although Kagan is believed to be more conservative than Stevens, it is speculated that Obama chose her in part because of her potential to ease friction between the president and his Republican opponents.http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/04/09/elena-kagan-emerging-as-s_n_532319.html

Kagan was the Dean of the Faculty of Law and Charles Hamilton Houston Professor of Law at Harvard Law School at the time she was selected by the president to serve in her current position. Kagan was also the Deputy Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy and Deputy Director of the Domestic Policy Council for President Bill Clinton from 1997-1999.http://www.law.harvard.edu/faculty/directory/index.html?id=112

Kagan was also thought to be on President Obama's short list of potential Supreme Court replacements for the retired Justice David Souter in 2009.http://www.ajc.com/services/content/2008/11/09/elecjudges.html On April 30, 2009, speculation that Kagan was in fact Obama's first choice hit the web within hours of the first reports of Souter's resignation.http://politics.theatlantic.com/2009/04/souter_said_to_be_retiring_who_would_replace_him.php

1. Kagan graduated from Princeton University in 1981 with a Major in Historyhttp://www.law.harvard.edu/faculty/directory/index.html
2. She graduated from Worcester College in 1983
3. She graduated from Harvard Law School in 1986
4. Kagan was Deputy Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy and Deputy Director of the Domestic Policy Council from 1997-99
5. She was Associate Counsel to the President from 1995-96
6. Kagan served as Professor of Law at University of Chicago Law School from 1995-97
7. She was Visiting Professor of Law, Harvard University from 1999-2001
8. Kagan was named Professor of Law at Harvard University in 2001
9. She was named Charles Hamilton Houston Professor of Law at Harvard University in 2003
10. She began serving as Dean of the Faculty of Law at Harvard University in 2003
11. Kagan was appointed solicitor general in 2009