Kagan promises 'evenhandedness and impartiality' on the court

WASHINGTON - Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan opened her Senate confirmation hearings Monday by promising she would employ "evenhandedness and impartiality" in judging cases and show deference to Congress if she's confirmed, as is expected.

In a 12-minute statement aimed at GOP criticism that she'd be a "liberal judicial activist," Kagan described the role of the Supreme Court as "modest" and said it must be "properly deferential to the decisions of the American people and their elected representatives."

Kagan, 50, the solicitor general and former Harvard Law School dean, appeared on a day clouded by the deaths of Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.) and the husband of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

Her appearance also coincided with the final decisions in the Supreme Court's term - including a ruling that extended the right to bear arms individually to state and local law - setting the stage for her questioning Tuesday through Thursday.

Kagan, who was born and raised in Manhattan, introduced herself in the nationally televised hearings on her nomination to replace retiring Justice John Paul Stevens with a humble address, thanking mentors and even former students for valuable lessons about the law.

"I will make no pledges this week other than this one - that if confirmed I will remember and abide by all these lessons," she said.

"I will listen hard," she said. "I will work hard. And I will do my best to consider every case impartially, modestly, with commitment to principle and in accordance with law."

Before she spoke, Democrats praised her resume, intellect and ability to build a consensus, and called her lack of judicial experience "refreshing."

But Republicans told her to expect to be grilled to determine what they called her little-known views, and scored her for failing to have practical law experience.

Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), the committee's top Republican, called her a liberal political operative and asked whether she can judge impartially. "Ms. Kagan's career has been consumed more by politics than law," Sessions said. "This worries many Americans."

Many GOP senators told Kagan she had put herself in the hot seat with a 1995 law review article that urged nominees to answer, and not duck, questions. Even Sen. Herb Kohl (D-Wis.) told her he had questions because "your judicial philosophy is almost invisible to us."

Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) disagreed: "Frankly, there are not many blanks left to fill in. Given how forthcoming General Kagan has already been, I would think that we could finish this hearing in one round of questioning."