CBS News
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20005376-503544.html

May 19, 2010

Kagan Supreme Court Hearings to Start in June

May 19, 2010

by Stephanie Condon

"There is no reason to unduly delay consideration of this nomination," Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) said in a statement. "Justice Stevens announced on April 9 that he would be leaving the Court. He noted that 'it would be in the best interests of the Court to have [his] successor appointed and confirmed well in advance of the commencement of the Court's next Term,' and I wholeheartedly agree with Justice Stevens."

The hearing roughly follows the same timeline of last year's confirmation hearings for Justice Sonia Sotomayor, beginning nearly 50 days after the nomination was announced. Leahy said today that the Senate should need even less time to prepare for Kagan's hearings, since -- as Republicans have been quick to point out -- she has no judicial experience and therefore no previous rulings to be studied. Furthermore, the Senate reviewed Kagan's credentials last year when it confirmed her as solicitor general.

Republican Senators say that they want to ask Solicitor General Kagan about her actions as the Dean of Harvard Law School and about her judicial philosophy," Leahy said. "It does not take two months to prepare to ask those questions."