Posted on 06/25/2010 12:09:13 PM PDT by Ooh-Ah
Shortly after becoming dean of the Harvard Law School, Elena Kagan kicked the military out of the school's recruitment office while our troops were putting their lives on the line in two wars overseas. Now that President Obama has nominated Kagan to the Supreme Court, her actions at Harvard must be closely examined.
As ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, I have pledged that Kagan will receive a fair and thorough hearing.
Because Kagan's legal record is thin — she has never been a judge and practiced law for only two years — her time at Harvard is especially significant. The question must be asked: What does Kagan's treatment of the U.S. military at Harvard say about her fitness to hold one of the highest positions in American government?
For years, many of our nation's elite academic institutions shamefully discriminated against the armed services. The situation escalated in the 1990s after Congress passed, and President Clinton implemented, "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." Harvard and other schools protested the policy by actively obstructing military recruitment. At these schools, major law firms and corporations were allowed to recruit officially on campus. The U.S. military was not.
It was a serious problem and a source of significant national controversy. As college administrators persisted, Congress was eventually forced to act. A law known as the Solomon Amendment was passed in 1995 and strengthened in 1999 to require universities to provide equal access to the military if they wished to keep their public funding.
Harvard disregarded the new law and continued to block the access of military recruiters. Finally, in 2002, the military had enough. Acting on the Solomon Amendment, the Department of Defense threatened Harvard with a loss of taxpayer dollars. The law school relented and the military was given full access.
That is the policy that Kagan inherited when she became dean in 2003. But instead of maintaining that policy, she reversed it, once again stripping military recruiters of their institutional access.
Kagan did not go about these efforts quietly, but led a very public charge. She filed a legal brief in a distant circuit court to challenge the Solomon Amendment. Her goal was to free Harvard from the statute so that she could block military recruitment without jeopardizing the millions in taxpayer dollars that Harvard receives each year.
But the legal challenge failed and was met with unanimous rejection from the Supreme Court.
It is true that, earlier in 2004, the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals did instruct a lower court to issue an injunction against the Solomon Amendment. But the Circuit Court quickly suspended its own ruling before it could take effect, in order to allow the Supreme Court to hear the case. And even if the ruling hadn't been suspended, the 3rd Circuit lacks jurisdiction over Harvard and its policies.
Simply put, Harvard was legally bound by the Solomon Amendment every single day that Kagan was dean.
Thus, when Kagan banned the military from the recruitment office, she wasn't only discriminating against our men and women in uniform but was also doing so in defiance of federal law.
Kagan said these actions were driven by her disagreement with "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." However, that disagreement was apparently not so strong that it prevented her from serving as a loyal aide to President Clinton — who, along with Congress, created the policy. Instead of taking a stand in Washington, she went to Harvard and stood in the way of military recruiters.
For that, there is no justification.
What may not be clear to some in the progressive circles of academia is certainly clear to the vast majority of Americans: Support for the troops, and respect for the law, can't be set aside whenever politically convenient.
In one of the most significant positions she's held, Kagan used her authority to hinder, rather than help, the soldiers who fight and die for our freedoms. People can and will disagree on whether that disqualifies Kagan from serving on the Supreme Court, and she will have a fair opportunity to present her side of the story.
Millions of Americans who are troubled by her actions at Harvard will be listening closely to her explanation.
Sen. Jeff Sessions is the ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which will be holding the hearing for President Obama's Supreme Court nominee, Elena Kagan.
Heil bull-dyke butch Kagan! Heil, bull-dyke!
(As Kagan drools over her Jane Fonda workout video - never used, sealed in its original packaging.)
It’s real simple: She hates the military like most Democrats.
Homo-Leninists credo:
Free Speech only for Me; not thee
The American people voted for all of this on Nov. 4, 2008, and we are stuck with their disaster.
The “explanation” is obvious!
The American people voted for all of this on Nov. 4, 2008””
Correction:
The ACORN people voted for all of this.........
This Marxist douchebsg is not fit to be on the court and should be filabustered. Screw the press and the RATS this is a lifetime appointment.
ROAST THIS PIG!!!!!!!
“Did he call Kagan a pig?”
YES I DID!!!!!!
ROAST THIS PIG!!!!!!!
“Did he call Kagan a pig?”
YES I DID!!!!!!
ROAST THIS PIG!!!!!!!
“Did he call Kagan a pig?”
YES I DID!!!!!!
*yawn* By this time next year, Sotomayor, Kagan, and a player to be named later will have their own bloc on the Bench. The thought of any type of “bloc” on the highest court is frightening. But this is what we voted for..
RE: It’s real simple: She hates the military like most Democrats!
EXACTLY!!!!
Obligatory Carpet Muncher Alert!
The problem is that you can’t explain it away ;-)
Demand?! Soon the left will find a way to stifle those pesky demands of the ‘haters’ who dare question the lefts’ authority and edict (but not those who questioned the right during the Bush era). Of course, the left has no love lost for the military.
Sessions is talking a good game now. We will see what he does come Confirmation time.
They hate the military. Since they can’t eliminate it, they are filling it with people who will destroy it from the inside.
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