Law in Contemporary Society

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ElenaKagan 13 - 16 Jun 2010 - Main.DanKarmel
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 Is anyone else disappointed with this nomination (from a non liberal/conservative point of view)?

I think it is terribly disappointing that we keep getting these Ivy League judges on the Supreme Court. Sure, Kagan has no "bench" experience, so in that aspect she is diverse. She is also female, which may be needed. But, she is still what at least 7 out of the other 8 are on the court: legal intellectuals. Frankly, I would have liked to have seen (and would like to see in the future) non-intellectuals grace the halls of the court again. There used to be a time when one did not have to go to an Ivy league law school to be on the court. Now, it is a prerequisite. And, I can't think of a nominee that would be a bigger intellectual than Kagan: law prof turned Harvard Law School Dean. But, I don't know the woman, so, maybe I'm wrong.

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 -- MatthewZorn - 19 May 2010
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>		I think you can argue that the elitism of the Supreme Court is one of its strengths. In addition to the role it plays in the Federal Government's separation of powers, the Supreme Court helps perpetuate an idea of objective law and justice. I realize that this is a myth, and one that people accept to varying to degrees, but the almost sacred place it holds in the public consciousness actually does add a certain degree of stability to society. Part of why I don't think that myth is dangerous is precisely because the Supreme Court is so political. Citizens do affect the Court through their election of presidents and other politicians. They simply do so more slowly and over a longer time frame.
 
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>		Also, why doesn't it bother you that we keep having Ivy League presidents? We haven't had a president in over 20 years who didn't go to Yale or Harvard.
 -- DanKarmel - 16 Jun 2010

Revision 13r13 - 16 Jun 2010 - 03:25:45 - DanKarmel
Revision 12r12 - 16 Jun 2010 - 02:57:23 - MatthewZorn
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