Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts administers the constitutional oath to Elena Kagan in the justices’ conference room as Jeffrey Minear, counselor to the chief justice, holds the Bible, on Aug. 7. (Photo: Steve Petteway, Collection of the Supreme Court of the United States)
Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts administers the constitutional oath to Elena Kagan in the justices’ conference room as Jeffrey Minear, counselor to the chief justice, holds the Bible, on Aug. 7. (Photo: Steve Petteway, Collection of the Supreme Court of the United States)(JTA) — Elana Kagan was sworn in as the 112th U.S. Supreme Court justice.
Kagan became the third Jewish justice on the current court, and the fourth woman ever to serve, when she was sworn in Saturday by Chief Justice John Roberts at the Supreme Court building.
The U.S. Senate approved the nomination of Kagan, the U.S. solicitor general, in a 63-37 vote on Aug. 5.
Kagan, 50, joins Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer as Jewish justices on the high court. The current panel now also has three female justices, with Kagan joining Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor.
“This is a superb day for women, for Jewish people, for New York City and for the United States of America,” Eliot Engel, a Democratic congressman from New York, told Haaretz.
Kagan, a New York City native, was an attorney and policy adviser in the Clinton White House for four years. She is a former dean of the Harvard Law School.
