As US President Barack Obama nominates Elena Kagan for the Supreme Court, we take a look at what she faces in the drive to be sworn in.
It takes an average of about 100 days from the time a US Supreme Court justice announces his or her retirement until the Senate confirms a replacement, according to Senate Judiciary Committee.
President Barack Obama today nominated Solicitor General Elena Kagan as successor to the retiring Justice John Paul Stevens.
While no nomination is guaranteed to be approved by the Senate, Ms Kagan is seen as having a good chance for confirmation. Here is a look at what she faces in the drive to be sworn in.
* In coming days, Ms Kagan will likely have courtesy visits with Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid and Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell. She will also visit with the 12 Democrats and seven Republicans on the Judiciary Committee who will hold the confirmation hearing.
* The 400,000-member American Bar Association, the world's largest voluntary professional association, will conduct its own review of the nominee. The ABA will deem Ms Kagan ‘well qualified,’ ‘qualified’ or ‘unqualified.’ While the rating will not ensure confirmation or rejection, it is certain to be a factor in Senate consideration.
* The Judiciary Committee will submit a questionnaire to Ms Kagan. Questions will range from age, place of birth and education to net worth, copies of the nominee's public writings and speeches, potential conflicts of interest and if anyone at the White House asked how she might rule. In 2005, the panel complained that President George W Bush's nominee Harriet Miers had inadequately filled out her questionnaire. She withdrew from consideration.
* Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy will announce a date for the start of his panel's confirmation hearing. It will likely last about a week. On the first day, each committee member will be invited to make an opening statement, followed by a statement by the nominee. Questioning will begin the next day and is certain to touch on such volatile issues as gun control and abortion rights. At the close of the hearing, committee members may submit any remaining questions to the nominee in writing.
* Once all questions are answered, the committee will send the nomination to the full 100-member Senate with a ‘favorable’ or ‘unfavorable’ recommendation.
* Senator Reid, as Senate majority leader, will schedule a debate by his chamber, followed by a vote. Republicans could try to mount a procedural roadblock, but they say that is unlikely. Sixty votes would be needed to clear a possible Republican roadblock. Democrats control 59 of the Senate's 100 seats.
* Once confirmed, Ms Kagan would be sworn in, likely at the White House. Chief Justice John Roberts would likely administer the oath. But another justice could do it.
Free-speech, business cases await US court pick
Violent video games, protests at funerals for U.S. military members, a Swiss watch copyright dispute and vaccine-maker liability are among the cases that Solicitor General Elena Kagan would confront if approved for the US Supreme Court.
President Barack Obama nominated Ms Kagan on Monday to replace outgoing liberal Justice John Paul Stevens. The retirement of the outgoing liberal 90-year-old Justice John Paul Stevens will take effect at the end of the current court term in late June.
For its upcoming term, the court has agreed to decide a number of major cases. They include:
VIOLENT VIDEO GAMES
* Whether a California law banning the sale and rental of violent video games to minors violated constitutional free-speech rights.
It will mark the first time the high court will hear and decide a case involving government regulation of video games.
The Supreme Court will consider whether violent material in video games should be subject to the same legal standard the courts have used to prohibit the sale of sexually explicit material to minors.
ANTI-GAY PROTESTS AT MILITARY FUNERALS
* Whether constitutional free-speech rights protected anti-gay protests by members of a Kansas church at funerals for US military members killed in Iraq.
The protestors argued their message and picketing were constitutionally protected, even though it involved a private family funeral.
The church members have picketed at funerals of U.S. military members killed in Iraq or Afghanistan as part of their religious view that God is punishing America for its tolerance of gays and lesbians.
COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT
* A copyright infringement dispute between Costco Wholesale Corp, the top US warehouse club operator, and a Swatch Group unit over imported Swiss-made watches.
Costco obtained the watches through a series of transactions. Swatch Group's Omega unit first sold the watches to authorized distributors overseas. Unidentified third parties bought the watches and sold them to a New York company, which in turn sold them to Costco.
The case has important implications for discount sellers like Costco and other companies that form the annual market estimated at more than $50 billion for goods that are purchased abroad, then imported and resold without permission of the manufacturer.
BACKGROUND CHECKS FOR NASA EMPLOYEES
* Whether NASA background investigations, required of scientists, engineers and all other employees at its Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, violated their privacy rights.
All positions at the laboratory, owned by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and operated by the California Institute of Technology, are filled by contract employees. Employees who do not agree to the checks could lose their jobs.
The ruling could affect the background investigation process used by the federal government for more than 50 years.
LAWSUITS AGAINST VACCINE MANUFACTURERS
* Whether a federal law protected vaccine manufacturers from lawsuits in state court seeking to hold them liable for damages.
The case involved a lawsuit by the parents of a child who suffered seizures after her third dose of a diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis, or DTP, vaccine. They sued the manufacturer for alleged design defects in the vaccine.
The ruling could affect about 5,000 federal claims alleging a link between childhood vaccines and neurological damage like autism, and whether those claimants can also seek damages under state law.
(Reuters)
