Who is elena kagan

Marvel Entertainment was an otherwise dry patent case. Writing for the Court majority in Descamps v. Colonel Mustard, in the conservatory, with the rope, on a snowy day, to cover up his affair with Mrs. But after the Supreme Court was transformed with the deaths of Justices Antonin Scalia and Ruth Bader Ginsburg in and and the retirement of Justice Anthony Kennedy in , Kagan has authored stinging dissents. She dissented in Rucho v. Common Cause, a decision that barred federal courts from hearing partisan gerrymandering claims.

She delivered that dissent not simply in writing but also orally. Likewise, Kagan dissented in Town of Greece v. Galloway, in which a majority found that New York may permit volunteer chaplains to open town council meetings with a prayer. The majority rejected the argument, finding that the prayers were consistent with the tradition of Congress and state legislatures, the town did not discriminate against minority faiths in determining who may offer a prayer, and the prayer did not coerce the participation of members of other faiths.

Kagan argued that this setting was different from Congress and state legislatures. In the intimate setting of local government meetings, in which a town council acts not only as a legislature but also as a site where local government interacts with residents, and in which Christian prayer-givers overwhelmingly delivered the prayer, the opening prayer was constitutionally flawed. Kagan dissented in another case involving religion exercise, Tandon v. The plaintiffs, who held Bible studies and prayer meetings in their home, claimed that the restrictions interfered with their First Amendment right to the free exercise of their religion.

The trial court and the appellate court had sided with California, relying on longstanding Supreme Court precedent that secular laws that are applicable to everyone are not unconstitutional just because they may burden religious exercise. Five members of the Supreme Court, however, in an unsigned order, held the restriction unconstitutional. Kagan accused the court of "weaponizing the First Amendment in a way that unleashes judges, now and in the future, to intervene in economic and regulatory policy.

State and local governments that thought fair-share provisions furthered their interests will need to find new ways of managing their workforces. In a decision, Knick v. Now one may wonder yet again. And when she reaches those limits, in clear and unmistakable prose, she dissents. Gertner, Nancy. Ray, Laura Krugman. Endnotes 10 Talbot, Margaret. Wolf, Richard. Have an update or correction? She received her M. Phil degree in After her studies at Oxford, Kagan began law school at Harvard.

She served as the supervising editor of the Harvard Law Review and graduated magna cum laude in Following law school, Kagan completed prestigious federal clerkships, first for Judge Abner Mikva of the U. Court of Appeals for the D. Circuit, then for Justice Thurgood Marshall of the U. Supreme Court. Kagan briefly worked in electoral politics on the campaign of Democratic Party presidential candidate Michael Dukakis in , but soon returned to the law, taking an associate position at the Washington, D.

In , she joined the University of Chicago Law School faculty as an assistant professor. Kagan received tenure in , but she left the University of Chicago that year to serve as associate counsel for President Bill Clinton. In these roles, Kagan helped shape and implement executive branch policies on important issues such as education, crime, and public health.

At the end of his second term, Clinton appointed Kagan to a judgeship on the U. Circuit the same one where she had clerked under Judge Mikva but the Senate did not confirm her nomination before Clinton left office and Congress adjourned. Kagan returned to academia in , this time as a visiting professor at her alma mater, Harvard Law School. She taught administrative law, constitutional law, and civil procedure.

Kagan rose through the ranks quickly: she earned full professor status in and was named dean of the law school just two years later. Kagan served as dean until , during which time Harvard Law School increased its faculty, remodeled its curriculum, placed a greater emphasis on public service, and improved the campus facilities and student experience.

Though experienced as a law professor and government attorney, Kagan had never served as a judge prior to her appointment to the Supreme Court. Kagan had to recuse herself frequently in her first years on the bench, as a result of her work in the Clinton administration and as Solicitor General. Kagan has revealed her sense of humor and affinity for popular culture from the bench, such as when she authored a playful majority opinion filled with Spiderman references in Kimble v.

On June 26, the Supreme Court handed down its second historic decision in as many days, with Kagan again joining the majority 5—4 ruling in Obergefell v.

Hodges that made same-sex marriage legal in all 50 states. Although Kagan had made the statement during her confirmation hearings that "there is no federal constitutional right to same-sex marriage," her comments during oral arguments suggested she had perhaps changed her opinion.

She was joined in the majority by Justices Anthony Kennedy , Stephen Breyer , Sotomayor and Ginsburg, with Roberts reading the dissenting opinion this time. We strive for accuracy and fairness. If you see something that doesn't look right, contact us!

Subscribe to the Biography newsletter to receive stories about the people who shaped our world and the stories that shaped their lives. Bush in Anthony Kennedy is an American lawyer who served as an associate justice on the U.

Supreme Court from until his retirement in Janet Reno broke new ground in as the first woman to serve as U. Attorney General, serving under President Bill Clinton. Antonin Scalia was best known as an Associate Justice for the U. Supreme Court, appointed in by President Ronald Reagan. Stephen Breyer is an associate justice for the U. Supreme Court, who was nominated by President Bill Clinton. After a lengthy career as an attorney, Samuel Alito was confirmed as a U.

Supreme Court Justice in He was controversially appointed in and leans conservative.