Scott Brown opposes Elena Kagan's Supreme Court nomination
Republican Senator Scott Brown of Massachusetts voted against the nomination of former Harvard Law School dean Elena Kagan to the United States Supreme Court this afternoon, due to her limited courtroom experience.
"When it comes to the Supreme Court, experience matters," Brown said in a statement before the vote. "No classroom can substitute for the courtroom itself, where decisions are made that affect the day-to-day lives of American citizens, and where one’s judicial character and temperament is shaped in favor of the fair and just application of the law.
"The best umpires, to use the popular analogy, must not only call balls and strikes, but also have spent enough time on the playing field to know the strike zone. Therefore, I cannot support Elena Kagan’s nomination."
Despite Brown's opposition, the Senate easily confirmed Kagan by a 63-37 vote. Five Republican senators, including Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe of Maine and Judd Gregg of New Hampshire, joined 56 Democrats and two independents in voting to confirm Kagan. Senator Ben Nelson of Nebraska was the lone Democrat to oppose her nomination.
President Obama in May nominated Kagan, 50, the U.S. solicitor general, to replace retired Justice John Paul Stevens.
About Political Intelligence
Glen Johnson is Politics Editor at boston.com and lead blogger for "Political Intelligence." He moved to Massachusetts in the fourth grade, and has covered local, state, and national politics for over 25 years. E-mail him at johnson@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @globeglen. |
