Elena Kagan, Barack Obama's nominee to replace the retiring Supreme Court justice John Paul Stevens, is scheduled to appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee in late June. Before she is confirmed by the committee, she will have to answer questions about her views on the constitution and her lack of judicial experience. One question she probably will not be asked, however, is what she meant by a statement she made about Justice Antonin Scalia in February 2007: 'He is the justice who has had the most important impact over the years on how we think and talk about law.' Next to Clarence Thomas, Scalia is the most conservative justice on the Supreme Court. Kagan is a Democrat and, we're told, a liberal. Was she including herself in this claim? If so, how exactly has Scalia influenced her? If not, what does she think of his influence on others?

LRB 10 June 2010 | PDF Download