...in Session...
From Elena Kagan's opening statement:
The idea is engraved on the very face of the Supreme Court building: Equal Justice Under Law. It means that everyone who comes before the Court – regardless of wealth or power or station – receives the same process and the same protections. What this commands of judges is even-handedness and impartiality. What it promises is nothing less than a fair shake for every American.
Link to Mothership Please rec Mothership, not this diary.
Link to Senate Judiciary web site. Note Kagan, member statements, right column.
Looking for volunteer to do Liveblog 3 tomorrow.... if you can, please leave comment under tip jar.
Webcasting:
Senate Judiciary Committee
C-SPAN - or C-SPAN3 on tv
Advocate
From Senator Leahy's opening statement:
It is essential that judicial nominees understand that, as judges, they are not members of an administration. The courts are not subsidiaries of any political party or interest group, and our judges should not be partisans. That is why the Supreme Court’s intervention in the 2000 presidential election in Bush v. Gore was so jarring and wrong. That is why the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Citizens United, in which five conservative Justices rejected the Court’s own precedent, the bipartisan law enacted by Congress, and 100 years of legal developments in order to open the door for massive corporate spending on elections, was such a jolt to the system.
Addtl Info:
Hufffington Post profiles of Senate Judiciary Committee members