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Elena Kagan’s first year on the Supreme Court

In her first year as a justice, Elena Kagan has quickly established herself as an incisive questioner and forceful writer amid the court’s strong personalities.

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Jan. 25, 2011

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton greets Supreme Court Justices Elana Kagan, right, and Sonia Sotomayor on Capitol Hill in before a State of the Union address by President Obama.

Pablo Martinez Monsivais / AP

The nine members of the Supreme Court pose for a new group photograph to reflect their newest member, Elena Kagan. Front row, from left: Clarence Thomas, Antonin Scalia, John G. Roberts Jr., Anthony M. Kennedy, Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Back row, from left: Sonia Sotomayor, Stephen G. Breyer, Samuel A. Alito Jr. and Elena Kagan.

Oct. 8, 2010

The nine members of the Supreme Court pose for a new group photograph to reflect their newest member, Elena Kagan. Front row, from left: Clarence Thomas, Antonin Scalia, John G. Roberts Jr., Anthony M. Kennedy, Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Back row, from left: Sonia Sotomayor, Stephen G. Breyer, Samuel A. Alito Jr. and Elena Kagan.

Bill O'Leary / The Washington Post

Justice Elena Kagan, left, poses for cameras as Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. walks away during an appearance in front of the Supreme Court building after Kagan formally joins the Supreme Court.

Oct. 1, 2010

Justice Elena Kagan, left, poses for cameras as Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. walks away during an appearance in front of the Supreme Court building after Kagan formally joins the Supreme Court.

Bill O'Leary / The Washington Post

President Obama introduces Elena Kagan at the White House shortly after her nomination to the Supreme Court was confirmed by the Senate.

Aug. 6, 2010

President Obama introduces Elena Kagan at the White House shortly after her nomination to the Supreme Court was confirmed by the Senate.

Bill O'Leary / The Washington Post

Kagan testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee on the second day of her Supreme Court confirmation hearing. She is first justice in more than 40 years who had never been a judge.

June 29, 2010

Kagan testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee on the second day of her Supreme Court confirmation hearing. She is first justice in more than 40 years who had never been a judge.

Toni L. Sandys / The Washington Post

Kagan makes the rounds on Capitol Hill, meeting lawmakers including Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), before her confirmation.

May 20, 2010

Kagan makes the rounds on Capitol Hill, meeting lawmakers including Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), before her confirmation.

Manuel Balce Ceneta / AP

Kagan with Sen. Olympia J. Snowe (R-Maine) before her confirmation hearing. With Kagan never having written court opinions, lawmakers scoured Kagan's writings for new clues on her viewpoints. But her judicial philosophy remained something of a mystery.

May 18, 2010

Kagan with Sen. Olympia J. Snowe (R-Maine) before her confirmation hearing. With Kagan never having written court opinions, lawmakers scoured Kagan's writings for new clues on her viewpoints. But her judicial philosophy remained something of a mystery.

Mark Wilson / Getty Images

Kagan with Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) before her confirmation. Kagan's writings as an academic did not suggest a strong legal philosophy, but her opinions and dissents from the bench have shown a conversational, forceful writer.

May 18, 2010

Kagan with Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) before her confirmation. Kagan's writings as an academic did not suggest a strong legal philosophy, but her opinions and dissents from the bench have shown a conversational, forceful writer.

Mark Wilson / Getty Images

Kagan and Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) on Capitol Hill before Kagan's confirmation hearings. At the time, liberals worried that she would not shore up the court's left flank, but in her first year, they have found their concerns unfounded.

May 13, 2010

Kagan and Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) on Capitol Hill before Kagan's confirmation hearings. At the time, liberals worried that she would not shore up the court's left flank, but in her first year, they have found their concerns unfounded.

Melina Mara / The Washington Post

Kagan had never been a judge and had not published a major work since 200, and her record lacks the paper trail of other nominees in recent years.

May 13, 2010

Kagan had never been a judge and had not published a major work since 200, and her record lacks the paper trail of other nominees in recent years.

Melina Mara / The Washington Post

Kagan with Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) before her confirmation hearings. Kagan has proved to be largely in line with the justice she replaced, John Paul Stevens, who said he can think of only a couple of cases where she voted differently than he would have.

May 12, 2010

Kagan with Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) before her confirmation hearings. Kagan has proved to be largely in line with the justice she replaced, John Paul Stevens, who said he can think of only a couple of cases where she voted differently than he would have.

Melina Mara / The Washington Post

Kagan meets with Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) before her confirmation. Reid praised her as 'the right choice to replace Justice Stevens on the Supreme Court.'

May 12, 2010

Kagan meets with Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) before her confirmation. Reid praised her as "the right choice to replace Justice Stevens on the Supreme Court."

Melina Mara / The Washington Post

Kagan meets with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) before her confirmation.

May 12, 2010

Kagan meets with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) before her confirmation.

Melina Mara / The Washington Post

As nominees always do, Kagan said nothing to the media during her pre-confirmation meetings, simply smiling.

May 12, 2010

As nominees always do, Kagan said nothing to the media during her pre-confirmation meetings, simply smiling.

Melina Mara / The Washington Post

Kagan declared it a tremendous honor to replace Stevens. 'The court is an extraordinary institution,' she said.

Kagan declared it a tremendous honor to replace Stevens. "The court is an extraordinary institution," she said.

Nikki Kahn / The Washington Post

President Obama and Vice President Biden nominate Solicitor General Elena Kagan to be the 112th justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.

President Obama and Vice President Biden nominate Solicitor General Elena Kagan to be the 112th justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.

Nikki Kahn / The Washington Post

Kagan is the former dean of Harvard Law School and was a colleague of President Obama's at the University of Chicago law school. She was the first female solicitor general, the official who represents the government in cases before the Supreme Court.

April 2003

Kagan is the former dean of Harvard Law School and was a colleague of President Obama's at the University of Chicago law school. She was the first female solicitor general, the official who represents the government in cases before the Supreme Court.

Kathleen Dooher / AP

Kagan, at the annual 7th Circuit Bar Association and Judicial Conference in Chicago, was already sometimes referred to as the '10th justice' in her role as solicitor general.

May 2010

Kagan, at the annual 7th Circuit Bar Association and Judicial Conference in Chicago, was already sometimes referred to as the "10th justice" in her role as solicitor general.

David Banks / AP

Kagan worked for Bill Clinton as deputy assistant to the president. Here she watches as he practices his State of the Union speech in the family theater at the White House.

Jan. 16, 1999

Kagan worked for Bill Clinton as deputy assistant to the president. Here she watches as he practices his State of the Union speech in the family theater at the White House.

Sharon Farmer / AP

Kagan speaks during a panel about 'Women Advocates of the Supreme Court Bar.' Republicans complained about her lack of courtroom experience.

Jan. 28, 2010

Kagan speaks during a panel about "Women Advocates of the Supreme Court Bar." Republicans complained about her lack of courtroom experience.

Jose Luis Magana / AP

But Kagan is one of the country's top constitutional and administrative law scholars. Here she is with Aspen Institute President Walter Isaacson at a Georgetown University forum, 'Striking the Balance: Fair and Independent Courts in a New Era.'

May 20, 2009

But Kagan is one of the country's top constitutional and administrative law scholars. Here she is with Aspen Institute President Walter Isaacson at a Georgetown University forum, "Striking the Balance: Fair and Independent Courts in a New Era."

Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images

Kagan came to the court with a reputation as a liberal conservatives can love. When Harvard Law School hosted a huge dinner a few years ago for the conservative Federalist Society, Kagan, as dean, received such long and enthusiastic applause that she felt compelled to hold up her arms in mock protest. But her opinions and dissents from the bench have at times been sarcastic and cutting.

May 20, 2009

Kagan came to the court with a reputation as a liberal conservatives can love. When Harvard Law School hosted a huge dinner a few years ago for the conservative Federalist Society, Kagan, as dean, received such long and enthusiastic applause that she felt compelled to hold up her arms in mock protest. But her opinions and dissents from the bench have at times been sarcastic and cutting.

Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images

Kagan sits here with former U.S. Supreme Court justice Sandra Day O'Connor and Justice Stephen G. Breyer during a forum on the judiciary at Georgetown.

May 20, 2009

Kagan sits here with former U.S. Supreme Court justice Sandra Day O'Connor and Justice Stephen G. Breyer during a forum on the judiciary at Georgetown.

Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images

Kagan, who is the fourth female justice on the Supreme Court, meets with Sandra Day O'Connor, the first female justice.

May 20, 2009

Kagan, who is the fourth female justice on the Supreme Court, meets with Sandra Day O'Connor, the first female justice.

Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images

Kagan participated in a trivia contest at the University of Chicago with Daniel Shaviro. While teaching law at the school, Kagan was part of a group that tried to recruit Barack Obama to commit full time to academia.

Kagan participated in a trivia contest at the University of Chicago with Daniel Shaviro. While teaching law at the school, Kagan was part of a group that tried to recruit Barack Obama to commit full time to academia.

/ University of Chicago Law School

Elena Kagan, second from left in the front row, poses with members of Hunter College High School's student government in the 1977 yearbook. Kagan, wearing a robe and holding a gavel, was the student council president.

1977

Elena Kagan, second from left in the front row, poses with members of Hunter College High School's student government in the 1977 yearbook. Kagan, wearing a robe and holding a gavel, was the student council president.

Hunter College High School / AP

Kagan's portrait in the Nassau Herald, Princeton Unviersity's yearbook.

1981

Kagan's portrait in the Nassau Herald, Princeton Unviersity's yearbook.

/ Courtesy of Princeton University

Elena Kagan featured in an advertisement for the Daily Princetonian, an independent student newspaper.

Elena Kagan featured in an advertisement for the Daily Princetonian, an independent student newspaper.

/ Courtesy of Princeton University

In a photo from her high school's 1977 yearbook. Elena Kagan raises her arm during a class trip to Philadelphia.

1977

In a photo from her high school's 1977 yearbook. Elena Kagan raises her arm during a class trip to Philadelphia.

/ AP/Hunter College HIgh School

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