Elena Kagan shattered at least one truism of the modern U.S. Supreme Court confirmation process: that a successful nominee must have prior experience as a federal appellate judge.
But the shift didn’t come easily. Kagan’s Aug. 5 confirmation as the Court’s 112th justice came after months of attacks on her legal career. Republicans called her a political lawyer and pointed to how little time she spent in courtrooms compared to past nominees from outside the “judicial monastery.” Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, even said Kagan is not a “real lawyer.”
