# Elena Kagan

Elena Kagan (born April 28, 1960) is an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, serving since August 7, 2010. Kagan is the Court's 112th justice and fourth female justice.

## Quotes

* Subsequent hearings have presented to the public a vapid and hollow charade, in which repetition of platitudes has replaced discussion of viewpoints and personal anecdotes have supplanted legal analysis. Such hearings serve little educative function, except perhaps to reinforce lessons of cynicism that citizens often glean from government. Neither can such hearings contribute toward an evaluation of the Court and a determination whether the nominee would make it a better or worse institution. A process so empty may seem ever so tidy — muted, polite, and restrained — but all that good order comes at great cost.
** On hearings of nominees to the Supreme Court after the rejection of Judge Bork, in a review of The Confirmation Mess (1995).
* I love Justice Marshall. He did an enormous amount for me. But if you confirm me to this position, you will get Justice Kagan. You won't get Justice Marshall, and that's an important thing.
** Senate Confirmation Hearing, reported in David Espo, "Analysis: Republicans resurrect Marshall as target", Associated Press (29 June 2010).
* My politics would be, must be, have to be, completely separate from my judgment.
** Senate Confirmation Hearing, reported in "Elena Kagan under fire from Republicans", The Guardian (29 June 2010).
* It is absolutely true that I have served in two Democratic administrations. You can tell something from me and my political views from that.
** Senate Confirmation Hearing, reported in "Elena Kagan under fire from Republicans", The Guardian (29 June 2010).
* I think people are great in many different ways. So, I think some justices are great because they have extraordinary wisdom, they have an understanding of how to apply the law in their times … in a way that's completely consistent with … the text of the law and the purposes of the law, and in a way that's completely right for the times in which they live in.
** Interview on C-SPAN (9 December 2010).

## Misattributed

* It's fine if the law bans books because government won't really enforce it.
** Reported as having been said by Kagan during the Supreme Court oral argument in the Citizens United case in September, 2009; however, this quote does not appear in the actual transcript of the oral argument.

## About

* For the past 11 years, I’ve taught hundreds of students, primarily at Harvard Law School. I teach that the Constitution’s separation of powers protects individual liberty, and I remain grateful to the dean who hired me, Justice Elena Kagan.
** Brett Kavanaugh, U.S. Supreme Court Nomination Acceptance Speech, 9 July 2018
* ...candidates for a Supreme Court seat that had opened up after Justice John Paul Stevens announced his retirement in early April. I settled on the brilliant young solicitor general and former Harvard Law School dean Elena Kagan
** Barack Obama A Promised Land (2020)

## See also

* Samuel Alito
* Amy Coney Barrett
* Stephen Breyer
* Neil Gorsuch
* Ketanji Brown Jackson
* Elena Kagan
* Brett Kavanaugh
* Sonia Sotomayor
* John Roberts
* Clarence Thomas