Rand Paul Opposes Kagan

Rand Paul has announced that he opposes the nomination of Solicitor General Elena Kagan to the U.S. Supreme Court. It's a reasonable position for a conservative to take, except that Kagan could be much worse. Compared to some of the potential nominees, Kagan looks downright moderate (she appointed some outstanding conservatives to the Harvard Law School faculty as Dean.) Paul has stronger issues to press than Kagan's nomination, in my view.

Paul's press release is quoted below. The only part that leave me confused is Paul's complaint that

"Elena Kagan does not believe that the Constitution is the sole legal authority for the Supreme Court, specifically stating that judges could "mold or steer the law" and that it could be based on "the Constitution or another accepted source of law".

Now if Paul's point is that the Supreme Court cannot legitimately cite international law, then I agree with him. And I agree with him that a judge has no business "molding or steering" the law; that's a cover for judicial activism.

However, Kagan is correct that the Court can apply "another accepted source of law," other than the constitution. Indeed, the U.S. constitution is not always at issue in U. S. Supreme Court cases. The Court can rule on any number of sources of law, including statutes and foreign treaties.

Here's Paul's release:

Among the views of Elena Kagan of concern to Dr. Paul are:

1. Elena Kagan does not believe that the Constitution is the sole legal authority for the Supreme Court, specifically stating that judges could "mold or steer the law" and that it could be based on "the Constitution or another accepted source of law". She will clearly be an activist judge for her liberal positions and in Dr. Paul's opinion, will legislate from the bench.

2. Elena Kagan argued against a federal partial-birth abortion ban.

3. Elena Kagan has actively worked against the 2nd amendment, and in favor of greater restrictions and licensing for guns.

4. While at Harvard, she banned military recruiting there, showing her disdain for our armed forces.

5. She has written in support of discrimination via racial quotas.

For these reasons, Dr. Paul would vote against the nomination of Elena Kagan, and calls on Jack Conway to state his position and tell Kentucky voters how he would vote on this liberal Obama nominee.