Observations by Stuart Taylor, Jr. Mean a Lot Around Here

Following a few minutes talking about, of all things, the Rolling Stones, Imus and resident legal whiz Stuart Taylor, Jr., who writes for National Journal and for Newsweek, turned to the matter at hand: Solicitor General Elena Kagan’s nomination to the Supreme Court yesterday by President Obama.

“I like her,” said Taylor. “I like her from what little I know her, and I like her by reputation and what she stands for.”

Taylor particularly likes how Kagan extended an olive branch to Conservatives while she was the dean of Harvard of Law School. “Unlike your typical, liberal academic, or an awful lot of them, she’s kind of open-minded,” said Taylor. “She likes to get in and mix it up and engage with Conservatives. She likes to bat around ideas.”

Though she lacks “that sort of condescending, liberal attitude that drives a lot of Conservatives nuts,” Taylor doubts she’d vote with the Court’s conservative cohort. “I think she’ll generally vote with the Court’s Liberals,” he said, but stipulated, “I get the feeling she’s got an open and supple mind, and won’t be entirely predictable.”

Which is worrisome to traditional Liberals, like those at the New York Times, which today expressed concern that she’s not liberal enough, and that she’s a question mark.

Taylor agreed that the public doesn’t know much about her. “That’s just the way it goes with modern Supreme Court confirmations,” he said. “If we knew exactly what she thought about abortion, and exactly what she thought about affirmative action, and exactly what she thought about all the related cases, it’d be very, very hard to confirm her.”

Imus, however, is mostly hoping Kagan will apply the law as mandated in the Constitution. But maybe that’s just him.

“That is what we hope for, and I think she’ll do it,” said Taylor, making sure to point out that a Justice’s intention to follow the Constitution doesn’t necessarily dictate what they wind up doing.

As solicitor general, Kagan’s most important, if not her most visible, role is to supervise all Supreme Court litigation by the government, to decide what positions to take and when to appeal a case from the federal district courts. She’s argued six cases herself, and, as Taylor put it, has been “dissed” by some observers.

“I thought she did fine,” said Taylor. “She’s smart, she’s direct, she doesn’t back off. Roberts has been hard on her, challenging her positions, and she goes right back at him.”

While Kagan’s presence would mark the first time three women have sat on the Supreme Court, Taylor is concerned that all nine members of the Court either attended Harvard or Yale Law Schools. “They’re all fine people,” he said. “But that’s not the kind of diversity I think we need.”

The Court would also become devoid of Protestants for the first time in history, which Taylor doesn’t think makes much of a difference anyway. Naturally, Imus wants to shake things up.

“Let’s get a crazy Baptist in there,” he suggested. “Or an Episcopalian!”

-Julie Kanfer