Elena Kagan Quotes

Law matters, because it keeps us safe, because it protects our most fundamental rights and freedoms, and because it is the foundation of our democracy.

Elena Kagan

Rights, Law, Democracy

Speech on Being Nominated to Serve as U.S. Supreme Court Justice, delivered 10 May 2010

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I've led a school whose faculty and students examine and discuss and debate every aspect of our law and legal system. And what I've learned most is that no one has a monopoly on truth or wisdom. I've learned that we make progress by listening to each other, across every apparent political or ideological divide.

Elena Kagan

Wisdom, Truth, School

Opening Statement to the Senate Judiciary Committee at the USSC Justice Confirmation Hearings, delivered 28 June 2010

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My politics would be, must be, have to be, completely separate from my judgment.

Elena Kagan

Would Be, Judgment

"General David Petraeus Goes Before Senators". www.foxnews.com. April 19, 2012.

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I have no regrets. I don't believe in looking back. What I am proudest of? Working really hard... and achieving as much as I could.

Elena Kagan

Regret, Believe, Achieve

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Suppose a State said that, Because we think that the focus of marriage really should be on procreation, we are not going to give marriage licenses anymore to any couple where both people are over the age of 55. Would that be constitutional?

Elena Kagan

Couple, Gay, Thinking

Elena Kagan during Supreme Court Arguments on California Gay Marriage Ban, www.npr.org. March 26, 2013.

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There is no federal constitutional right to same-sex marriage.

Elena Kagan

Sex

"Senate confirms Elena Kagan, as same-sex marriage debate looms" by Sal Gentile, www.pbs.org. August 5, 2010.

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The Supreme Court, of course, has the responsibility of ensuring that our government never oversteps its proper bounds or violates the rights of individuals. But the Court must also recognize the limits on itself and respect the choices made by the American people.

Elena Kagan

Responsibility, Rights, Government

Opening Statement to the Senate Judiciary Committee at the USSC Justice Confirmation Hearings, delivered 28 June 2010

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Perhaps most important, judges will have goals. And because this is so, judges will often try to mold and steer the law in order to promote certain ethical values and achieve certain social ends. Such activity is not necessarily wrong or invalid.

Elena Kagan

Order, Law, Goal

"Kagan's thesis hints at her views" by Josh Gerstein, www.politico.com. May 18, 2010.

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It was a very cool thing to be a smart girl, as opposed to some other, different kind. And I think that made a great deal of difference to me growing up and in my life afterward.

Elena Kagan

Girl, Growing Up, Smart

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Like all Jews, I was probably at a Chinese restaurant!

Elena Kagan

Chinese, Restaurants, Jew

"Networks Paint 'Trailblazer' Kagan as Hilarious Wit Who 'Can Take a Punch'". www.newsbusters.org. June 30, 2010.

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I owe a debt of gratitude to two other living Justices. Sandra Day O'Connor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg paved the way for me and so many other women in my generation. Their pioneering lives have created boundless possibilities for women in the law. I thank them for their inspiration and also for the personal kindnesses they have shown me.

Elena Kagan

Gratitude, Kindness, Inspiration

Opening Statement to the Senate Judiciary Committee at the USSC Justice Confirmation Hearings, delivered 28 June 2010

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American radicals cannot afford to become their own worst enemies. In unity lies their only hope.

Elena Kagan

Lying, Worst Enemy, Unity

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It is absolutely true that I have served in two Democratic administrations. You can tell something from me and my political views from that.

Elena Kagan

Views, Two, Political

"Elena Kagan Under Fire From Republicans". Reuters, www.theguardian.com. June 29, 2010.

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And what my constitutional values are are wholly irrelevant to the job, and so neither you nor anyone else will know what they are.

Elena Kagan

Jobs, Knows, Irrelevant

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When the Senate ceases to engage nominees in meaningful discussion of legal issues, the confirmation process takes on an air of vacuity and farce, and the Senate becomes incapable of evaluating nominees or appropriately educating the public.

Elena Kagan

Meaningful, Air, Issues

"Panel on Obama's Nomination of Elena Kagan to Replace Justice Stevens on Supreme Court". "Special Report With Bret Baier", www.foxnews.com. May 10, 2010.

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What my political views or my constitutional views are just doesn't matter.

Elena Kagan

Views, Political, Matter

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In our own times, a coherent socialist movement is nowhere to be found in the United States. Americans are more likely to speak of a golden past than of a golden future, of capitalism's glories than of socialism's greatness.

Elena Kagan

Greatness, Past, Golden

"Komrade Kagan" by Mark Alexander, patriotpost.us. May 13, 2010.

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I think people are great in many different ways. So, I think some justices are great because they have extraordinary wisdom, they have an understanding of how to apply the law in their times in a way that's completely consistent with the text of the law and the purposes of the law, and in a way that's completely right for the times in which they live in.

Elena Kagan

Thinking, Law, People

C-Span Interview, www.c-span.org. December 09, 2010.

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I think the nine justices think the solicitor general is the 35th clerk.

Elena Kagan

Thinking, Justice, Clerks

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To have the opportunity to lead the Solicitor General's office is the honor of a lifetime. As you know, this is an office with a long and rich tradition, not only of extraordinary legal skill but also of extraordinary professionalism and integrity. That is due, in large measure, to the people who have led it.

Elena Kagan

Integrity, Opportunity, Skills

"Nominations For Associate Attorney General And Solicitor General". Hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee, votesmart.org. February 10, 2009.

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I think that if there are positions that you can't argue... then the responsibility is probably to resign. If one's own conscience is opposed to the requirements and responsibilities of the job, then it's time to leave the job.

Elena Kagan

Jobs, Responsibility, Thinking

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It's not that there are no masters, but that there are many. And the job of the solicitor general is to balance those masters and to accommodate them all, each in their proper places, wisely and well and in so doing to represent the people of the United States.

Elena Kagan

Jobs, People, Balance

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I do not espouse the unitarian position. President Clinton's assertion of directive authority over administration, more than President Reagan's assertion of a general supervisory authority, raises serious constitutional questions.

Elena Kagan

President, Administration, Serious

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In fact, corporate and union moneys go overwhelmingly to incumbents, so limiting that money, as Congress did in the campaign finance law, may be the single most self-denying thing that Congress has ever done.

Elena Kagan

Self, Law, Campaign Finance

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If there is an ‘overabundance’ of an idea in the absence of direct governmental action - which there well might be when compared with some ideal state of public debate - then action disfavoring that idea might ‘un-skew,’ rather than skew, public discourse.

Elena Kagan

Ideas, Might, Action

"Kagan Argued for Government 'Redistribution of Speech'" by Matt Cover, www.cnsnews.com. May 11, 2010.

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Born: April 28, 1960
Occupation: Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States
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