Senate confirms Elena Kagan as the United States' newest Supreme Court justice

It's official: Elena Kagan has been confirmed as John Paul Stevens' successor.

By a vote of sixty three to thirty seven, the U.S. Senate approved the nomination, ensuring that it would not be in limbo during the summer recess. Republicans and wannabe Republican Ben Nelson cast all of the votes against.

Five Republicans — Olympia Snowe, Susan Collins, Judd Gregg, Richard Lugar, and Lindsey Graham — broke ranks to vote in favor.

Senators in the Pacific Northwest voted strictly along party lines, meaning that Maria Cantwell, Patty Murray, Ron Wyden, Max Baucus, Jon Tester, and Mark Begich were all ayes, while Mike Crapo, Jim Risch, and Lisa Murkowski were nays.

In remarks at the Renaissance Hotel in Chicago, President Obama thanked the Senate for confirming Kagan, saying he was certain Kagan would be a great justice.

"Elena understands that the law isn’t just an abstraction or an intellectual exercise," the President said. "She knows that the Supreme Court’s decisions shape not just the character of our democracy, but the circumstances of our daily lives — or, as she once put it, that “behind the law there are stories — stories of people’s lives as shaped by the law, stories of people’s lives as might be changed by law."

Democratic senators also weighed in with their thoughts.

“With this historic vote today, we will have three incredibly talented women serving together on the Supreme Court for the first time in our nation’s history," Senator Barbara Boxer of California declared. "Elena Kagan’s intellect, broad range of legal experience, sense of fairness and deep respect for the law will make her an outstanding Supreme Court Justice."

Senator Patty Murray concurred. “I was proud to vote for Elena Kagan to be the next Associate Justice of the Supreme Court,” she said in a release sent to NPI.

“After meeting with Solicitor General Kagan, hearing her testimony, and examining her record, I am confident that she has the judgment and impartiality to serve our nation honorably. She is thoughtful and fair-minded in her approach to some of the most pressing legal issues we face as a nation. She understands the struggles working families face and the role of the Supreme Court in protecting them. And she is committed to protecting the rights and liberties of all Americans."

Senator Jeff Merkley of Oregon echoed Murray's praise.

"Solicitor General Kagan’s thoughtful approach to the law will make her a valuable addition to the Supreme Court," he said.

"Her experience in government provides her with the necessary technical expertise and respect for the proper role the judiciary has in our Constitutional system. Kagan also recognizes the weight of her new job: with every judgment she makes, she will impact the lives of millions of American citizens. I believe Kagan’s breadth of knowledge and deep respect for the Constitution and laws that this nation was founded upon make her a worthy successor to the Supreme Court seat held by Louis Brandeis, William O. Douglas, and John Paul Stevens."

Men still outnumber women on the Supreme Court, but with Kagan's nomination approved, the Supreme Court's liberal wing is now mostly comprised of women. That is unlikely to change anytime soon, because President Barack Obama is sure to appoint a woman to fill Ruth Bader Ginsburg's position if she retires.

Kagan, fifty, now becomes the Supreme Court's youngest justice. She will likely be on the Court for decades, and could still be serving years after every other current justice has died or retired. That is one likely reason why she garnered so little Republican support. The right wing hates the thought of her serving for so long.

She will soon have opportunities to join or lead protests of the Roberts court's continuing assault on our freedoms, as the court's conservative bloc seems bent on continuing to undermine or destroy precedent after precedent.