President Obama Nominates Elena Kagan to Supreme Court

14 May 2010

President Obama announces Elena Kagan as his choice for Supreme Court Justice at the White House

This is IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.

President Obama nominated Elena Kagan to the United States Supreme Court this week. She would replace retiring Justice John Paul Stevens on the nine-member Court.

BARACK OBAMA:“I have selected a nominee who I think embodies that same excellence, independence, integrity and passion for the law.”

If confirmed by the Senate, the fifty-year-old Kagan would be the youngest justice on the current Supreme Court. She would be the fourth woman to ever serve on the Court.

She would follow current Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor as well as retired Justice Sandra Day O’Connor.

President Obama described Elena Kagan as “a trailblazer for women.”

She is the first woman to serve as solicitor general of the United States and earlier, as head of Harvard Law School.

Elena Kagan grew up in New York City, the daughter of a lawyer and a teacher. She attended Princeton University and Harvard Law School. Miz Kagan has extensive experience in the law and government. She worked as a lawyer in the Clinton and Obama administrations. As solicitor general, she argues cases for the United States government before the Supreme Court.