The nomination and appointment of Elena Kagan to the U.S. Supreme Court in 2010 offered few clues to her likely role within the Court. There was no judicial record of previous decisions on controversial issues because Kagan had no judicial experience, making her the only member of the current Court who had never been a judge. There was also very little indication of her personal views because Kagan prefers to keep her private life private. A closer look at Kagan's life and career, however, reveals a very smart, likable, hard-working, and accomplished woman with a reasoned approach to legal questions and a remarkable ability to bring together people with deeply held, conflicting views, an especially important skill on the closely-divided Supreme Court. Supporting social studies, history, and biography assignments, this informative book chronicles the life of Elena Kagan, including a number of key events: her childhood, schooling, public service, years as a professor, positions as Dean of Harvard Law School and Solicitor General, appointment to the Supreme Court, her role in important court decisions, and other related topics. Special care is taken to explain the purpose and daily activities of SCOTUS and Kagan's responsibilities as a judge.

In light of Elena Kagan¿s nomination to serve as an Assoc. Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, this report analyzes then-Prof. Kagan¿s views of exec. power and the doctrine of separation of powers as laid out in her 2001 Harvard Law Review article ¿Presidential Admin.¿ Contents: (1) Constitutional and Legal Basis for Exec. Authority: Constitutional Text; Decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court: Youngstown Sheet and Tube v. Sawyer; Appointment and Removal Cases; (2) Theories of Exec. Power: The ¿Traditional¿ View; The ¿Unitary Theory of the Exec.¿; (3) Presidential Admin.: Responses to Traditionalist Arguments, and the ¿Unitary Theory of the Exec.¿; (4) Pres. Admin. and Admin. Law; (5) Pres. Admin., Foreign Affairs, and National Security.

On May 10, 2010, President Obama nominated Solicitor General (SG) Elena Kagan to replace retiring Justice John Paul Stevens. If confirmed, Elena Kagan would be the first serving SG to be appointed to the Court since the elevation of Thurgood Marshall in 1967. She would also be only the fifth of 111 Justices to come to the bench with such experience. Contents of this report: (1) Intro.; (2) Duties and Responsibilities of the SG; (3) Explaining the Success of the SG; (4) From SG to Supreme Court Nominee: Chief Justice William Howard Taft; Associate Justice Stanley Reed; Associate Justice Robert Jackson; Associate Justice Thurgood Marshall; (5) SG Elena Kagan: Tenure as SG; Potential for Recusal During Her First Term if Confirmed.

Before Supreme Court nominees are allowed to take their place on the High Court, they must face a moment of democratic reckoning by appearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Despite the potential this holds for public input into the direction of legal change, the hearings are routinely derided as nothing but empty rituals and political grandstanding. In this book, Paul M. Collins and Lori A. Ringhand present a contrarian view that uses both empirical data and stories culled from more than seventy years of transcripts to demonstrate that the hearings are a democratic forum for the discussion and ratification of constitutional change. As such, they are one of the ways in which 'We the People' take ownership of the Constitution by examining the core constitutional values of those permitted to interpret it on our behalf.

Gender Diversity and Inclusion: Contemporary and Historical Perspectives offers a rigorous analysis of comparative gender-sensitive policy and perspectives regarding gender justice and equity at global, national, and local levels. Presenting and analyzing case studies from countries around the world, including the United States, Northern Ireland, India, Bangladesh, and Iran, the essays in this collection posit that gender equity dialogue and policy advancement are the main key components to progress and perseverance in gender justice—both for positive outcomes and policy making at the global level. In addition, the contributors illustrate that greater gender equity and justice realization influences smart economy development, enhancing progress and improving other positive outcomes, including prospects for intergenerational justice and for the quality of societal policies and institutions.

Highlighting the close relationship between foreign relations law and international law, this impressive book places parliament and domestic courtsÕ engagement with treaties at the heart of its inquiry. It presents a timely assessment of the impact that different rules of constitutional law have on parliamentary and judicial approaches to treaties in four different states (Germany, India, South Africa and the US), thereby incorporating valuable comparative dimensions.