#elena-kagan — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #elena-kagan, aggregated by home.social.
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Samuel Alito justified a Supreme Court ruling that threatens majority-Black voting districts
https://web.brid.gy/r/https://www.advocate.com/politics/national/scotus-further-guts-voting-rights
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Hypocritically, The Origin Of The Supreme Court’s ‘Shadow Docket’ Was An Attempt To Curb Executive Power
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If You’re Like 95 And You Want To Marry Your Dog, Sure (By Elena Kagan)
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Elena Kagan – Profile & Analysis
Elena Kagan – Profile & Analysis
By Steve Petteway, Collection of the Supreme Court of the United States – Elena Kagan – The Oyez Project, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=24636070Appointed by: President Barack Obama (2010), replacing Justice John Paul Stevens.
Ideological position: Generally part of the Court’s liberal wing on voting rights, reproductive rights, LGBTQ+ equality, and the administrative state.
Background
- Born in New York City in 1960; educated at Princeton, Oxford, and Harvard Law School.
- Served as a law professor and later Dean of Harvard Law School.
- Became the first woman Solicitor General of the United States before her Supreme Court appointment.
Judicial Style & Philosophy
- Pragmatic liberal: Usually votes with the Court’s liberal bloc, but frames her opinions in practical, institutional terms rather than in sweeping theory.
- Readable, accessible opinions: Known for clear, conversational writing aimed at lawyers and non-lawyers alike, often using concrete examples and occasional humor.
- Institutionalist focus: Emphasizes process, transparency, and the Court’s legitimacy, especially in how it uses its emergency or “shadow” docket.
Key Themes & Notable Opinions
- Voting rights & democracy: In cases like Brnovich v. Democratic National Committee, Kagan’s dissents warn that narrowing the Voting Rights Act weakens core protections for minority voters and harms democratic participation.
- Administrative state & regulation: Opinions such as Kisor v. Wilkie and dissents in cases like West Virginia v. EPA show her concern for giving expert agencies room to implement complex statutes while still keeping them accountable to Congress and the courts.
- Shadow docket criticism: Kagan has become one of the most vocal critics of the Court’s growing use of emergency orders to decide high-stakes disputes, arguing that unexplained late-night rulings undermine lower courts and public trust.
- LGBTQ+ rights: She joined the majority in Obergefell v. Hodges (same-sex marriage) and has continued to support LGBTQ+ protections, warning that broad exemptions risk hollowing out formal equality.
Role on the Trump-Era Court
In Donald Trump’s second term, the conservative supermajority has repeatedly expanded presidential power, particularly over independent agencies and the federal workforce, often through the emergency docket. Kagan has emerged as a leading critic of this trend. In dissents to emergency orders and major merits cases, she argues that:
- Congress, not the president alone, should control how agencies are structured and how their leaders can be removed.
- Large shifts in federal power should not be made through unexplained emergency orders.
- Weakening voting rights and dismantling regulatory protections threatens the democratic system the Court is meant to safeguard.
Bottom line: Justice Kagan is the Court’s institutionalist liberal voice—focused on protecting democracy, preserving Congress’s role, and insisting that the Supreme Court explain itself openly when it makes decisions that reshape American law and government.
Selected Sources & Further Reading
- Oyez, “Elena Kagan: Biography and Cases.”
- Justia, “Justice Elena Kagan – Biographical Profile & Opinions.”
- Elena Kagan, dissents in major voting rights and administrative law cases (e.g., Brnovich v. DNC, Rucho v. Common Cause, West Virginia v. EPA).
- Recent speeches and commentary on the Supreme Court’s emergency or “shadow” docket and judicial independence.
#2025 #apppointedByObama #elenaKagan #justiceKagan #profile #scotus #supremeCourt #supremeCourtOfTheUnitedStates
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Supreme Court Uses Shadow Docket To Let Trump Fire FTC Commissioner While Pretending They Haven’t Already Decided The Case
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The US supreme court paved the way for Texas’s gerrymandering mess | Steven Greenhouse https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/aug/06/supreme-court-texas-redistricting-gerrymandering #USsupremecourt #JohnRoberts #ElenaKagan #USCongress #USpolitics #USnews #Texas
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Supreme Court allows Trump to resume Education Department layoffs
WASHINGTON (AP) — The…
#NewsBeep #News #Topstories #APTopNews #Boston #Courts #DistrictofColumbia #DonaldTrump #Education #Educationfunding #ElenaKagan #Generalnews #Governmentandpolitics #Headlines #Jobsandcareers #Lawsuits #Legalproceedings #LindaMcMahon #MAStateWire #Massachusetts #Politics #SoniaSotomayor #SupremeCourtoftheUnitedStates #U.S.DepartmentofEducation #U.S.SupremeCourt #Washingtonnews
https://www.newsbeep.com/3128/ -
Justice #ElenaKagan, who dissented previously, this time issued a concurring opinion. “I do not see how a district court can compel compliance with an order that this court has stayed,” she wrote.
Thur’s order was the latest in a series of rulings related to #immigration decided by the justices in summary fashion on what critics call the court’s shadow docket.
Some early decisions insisted on #DueProcess for immigrants before they are deported.
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He added that Justice #SoniaSotomayor had made the same point in her dissent from the ruling, which Justices #ElenaKagan & #KetanjiBrownJackson joined. “The district court’s remedial orders are not properly before this court because the government has not appealed them,” she wrote.
In Thursday’s ruling, the majority rejected that distinction, paused both sets of rulings & allowed the *#deportations* to #SouthSudan.
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Shockingly, only Justice #KetanjiBrownJackson dissented. The 2 other *liberal* justices #SoniaSotomayor & #ElenaKagan apparently joined the majority.
#law #immigration #racism #SCOTUS #Trump #Venezuelans #Maduro #HumanRights
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Justice #ElenaKagan said she saw huge incentives for #religious groups of various faiths to start #CharterSchools if #SCOTUS ruled it was permissible. “There’s a line out the door,” she said, “if you can do this consistent with your religious beliefs.”
That would also disfavor #religions that don’t conform to other state requirements on #curriculum, she said.#law #Constitution #ChurchAndState #NewApostolicReformation #education #FederalistSociety #ActivistCourt
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Justice #ElenaKagan signaled skepticism of the proposed #Catholic #school, suggesting #CharterSchools are much like traditional #PublicSchools: They accept all applicants, they’re free, the state has a say in the #curriculum, the schools have to comply w/state #standards, & they can be closed by the state.
“When I look at #Oklahoma & its charter school program, these #schools look like regular public schools. These charter schools are, in every respect, equivalent to regular public schools”
#law -
Under questioning from Justice #ElenaKagan, the attorney for the #Oklahoma #CharterSchool board emphasized that St. Isidore’s is not seeking to exclude students based on their #religion. But what if another school wanted to do that? she asked.
Atty James Campbell replied that this would require a different analysis.
“The state’s interest in that case would be very different—the interest in ensuring that #schools open to all,” he said.
#law #SCOTUS #Constitution #ChurchAndState #education -
Late Tues afternoon, the #SCOTUS declined to stay Williams’s execution. There were no noted dissents, but one of the orders said that the court’s 3 liberal members — Justices #SoniaSotomayor, #ElenaKagan & #KetanjiBrownJackson — would have granted the request to stay the #execution.
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On the same call, Shackelford attacked Justice #ElenaKagan as “treasonous” & “disloyal” after she endorsed an #enforcement mechanism for the court’s newly adopted #ethics code in a recent public appearance. He said that such an ethics code would “destroy the independence of the judiciary.” (This past weekend, Justice #KetanjiBrownJackson said she too was open to an enforceable ethics code for #SCOTUS.)
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#Justice #Kagan: Lower court #judges could enforce #SCOTUS #ethics code
Interviewed at NYU #law school, Justice #ElenaKagan also discussed the emergency docket & the historic number of women on the high court. Justice Elena Kagan on Mon brushed aside concerns about whether lower-court judges could effectively enforce the #SupremeCourt’s new ethics rules, saying those on the federal bench are more than capable of holding justices to account.https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/09/09/supreme-court-kagan-melissa-murray/
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The #SupremeCourt upheld a #SouthCarolina congressional map, easing #Republican #racialgerrymandering. The 6-3 decision, authored by Justice #SamuelAlito, dismissed prior findings of racial bias due to insufficient evidence. This ruling, criticized by Justice #ElenaKagan, raises the proof bar for gerrymandering cases, potentially weakening #VotingRights for minorities and reinforcing GOP electoral advantages.
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ABC News: #SupremeCourt makes it easier to sue for job discrimination over forced transfers
Workers only have to show that the transfer resulted in some, but not necessarily significant, harm to prove their claims, Justice #ElenaKagan wrote for the court.
#jobtransfers
https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/supreme-court-makes-easier-sue-job-discrimination-forced-109348834 -
#ElenaKagan kicked off her questions for Fischer’s atty, Green, by referring to #ClarenceThomas’s earlier comments. #KetanjiBrownJackson asked Green to respond more fully to a #AmyConeyBarrett question. The callbacks from the court’s liberals to its conservative members appear to be skepticism that the #obstruction statute can apply only to #evidence tampering.
The #law doesn’t say it applies to someone who “otherwise spoils evidence,” Kagan noted. “It says otherwise obstructs a proceeding.”
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#SCOTUS sided w/the govt on Fri, narrowly interpreting a provision of a landmark #criminal #justice #law in a decision likely to limit the number of federal #prisoners who are eligible for reduced #sentences for nonviolent drug crimes.
The majority opinion, written by #ElenaKagan, concluded that a criminal defendant must meet a series of criminal history conditions to qualify for relief.
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Supreme Court entscheidet: Apple muss App Store Regeln noch nicht ändern
Der US-Supreme Court hat am Mittwoch entschieden, dass Apple seine "Anti-Steering"-Regeln des App Stores nicht änder
https://www.apfeltalk.de/magazin/news/supreme-court-entscheidet-apple-muss-app-store-regeln-noch-nicht-aendern/
#News #Tellerrand #AntiSteeringRegeln #AppStore #Apple #Berufungen #DigitaleGter #ElenaKagan #Entwickler #EpicGames #EpicVsApple #Notfallantrag #Rechtsstreit #SupremeCourt #Zahlungsmethoden -
“We’re not imperial”: Elena Kagan contradicts Alito, says “of course Congress can regulate” SCOTUS — “It just can’t be that the court is the only institution that somehow is not subject to checks and balances”
#SCOTUSRegulation #ChecksAndBalances #ElenaKagan #AlitoContradiction #ImperialCourt #CongressPower #Politics #News
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John Roberts' Big Complaint About Elena Kagan Is Deeply Ironic
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2023/07/john-roberts-elena-kagan-student-debt-dissent.html
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Do read Mark Joseph Stern's takedown of #JohnRoberts' utterly bogus reasoning in the #StudentDebt case -- and his snotty, bullshit response to completely legit criticism by #ElenaKagan. #SCOTUS
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2023/06/john-roberts-supreme-court-kills-student-debt-relief.html -
SCOTUS Justice #ElenaKagan turns down #free #bagels to avoid #ethics #scandal as #ClarenceThomas rides around on #yachts. "women who attended high school w Kagan wanted to send her bagels, lox from legendary bakery on Lower East Side. But the justice put kibosh on bagel delivery, due to her concerns about Court’s ethics rules." So there is a measure for #legalethics #judcial #conduct and #SCOTUS. Yes the corruption has no end with #ClarenceThomas but not Kagan https://www.queerty.com/elena-kagan-turns-down-free-bagels-to-avoid-ethics-scandal-as-clarence-thomas-rides-on-private-jets-20230511
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The #liberal #justices shouldn’t let #ClarenceThomas off the hook.
Justices #KetanjiBrownJackson, #SoniaSotomayor and #ElenaKagan are letting their #love of the #SupremeCourt #blind them to its #problems
#Women #Transgender #LGBTQIA #SupremeCourt #RepublicanParty #Hate #Bigotry #Violence #Genocide #Homophobia #Transphobia #ThePartyOfHate https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/supreme-court-ethics-hearing-clarence-thomas-rcna82459
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“#SCOTUS #Justice #ElenaKagan said one could question why #Congress provided such protections when passing #Section230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996, which has been interpreted by courts to provide wide #immunity from lawsuits when the sites post content from outside parties.
“But she drew laughter when she wondered how far SCOTUS should go in cutting back such protection.
“‘You know, these are not like the nine greatest experts on the internet’ #JusticeKagan said.”
