Opinion: The Kagan paper chase

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

Senate Republicans are threatening to stall confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan, scheduled to begin June 28, because they want extra time to sift through thousands of pages of Clinton administration documents. The papers, to be released by the National Archives, supposedly will shed needed light on Kagan’s views as an associate White House counsel and policy advisor during the Clinton years.

We have been here before. In 2005, when John G. Roberts Jr. was facing confirmation, Democrats demanded documents from his days in the solicitor general’s office during the George H.W. Bush administration. The Archives did release documents from his days as a lawyer in the Reagan administration, which -- surprise -- showed that the young Roberts was a conservative Republican. Let’s stipulate -- as lawyers say -- that Kagan’s paper trail will show her to be a liberal Democrat.

This supposed treasure trove is likely to be fool’s gold, and not just because Kagan’s political orientation is already well known. Though cynics dismiss the notion, a justice’s political views do not always neatly translate into judicial views, if only because he or she feels constrained by precedent.

But let the paper chase begin. If nothing else, it will provide members of the Senate Judiciary Committee with something to talk about -- other than their own opinions, of course.

-- Michael McGough