Talk of who might be David Souter’s replacement started about instantaneously with the news of his possible retirement this summer. Among the candidates, according to this Washington Post piece, is current solicitor general Elena Kagan, who is Jewish:
Solicitor General Elena Kagan (born 1960). Kagan was confirmed by the Senate to her new job in March on a 61-31 vote, and has yet to argue a case at the court. Her confirmation process was more difficult than some had predicted, as Republican senators accused her of avoiding their questions. In the background was the thought that Kagan might be Obama’s first nominee to the court. She is the former dean of the Harvard Law School, worked in the Clinton administration and worked with Obama, although not closely, at the University of Chicago.
When she was named as solicitor general earlier this year, Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism director Rabbi David Saperstein called her the "quintessential Obama appointment":
"She’s intellectually brilliant, and politically gifted at finding common ground and finding consensus," said Saperstein of the Jewish woman picked by the president-elect to be his solicitor general. …
Saperstein dealt with Kagan when she was a lawyer and policy adviser in the Clinton White House, and said she "really knows the Jewish community well" and "really knows First Amendment issues well" — which is significant because the faith-based inititative and other religion issues are likely to be "in play" over the next few years.
"I’m glad he’s drawing people who really know the issue so well," Saperstein said.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
