Political Quotes

On the recordAugust 5, 2010
As a matter of fact, I was surprised. I think she did a real disservice to her prior employers, Justice Marshall, President Clinton, by not studying the history of the second amendment before she provided them with legal advice. I also think she did a disservice to her students, one that a professor of constitutional law should understand. Ms. Kagan confirmed the importance of studying founding documents when interpreting second amendment rights when she said during her Solicitor General hearing: The individual rights view and the collective rights view present cogent and sometimes powerful arguments. And I have come away thinking that immersion in the primary sources, which I have never attempted, would be necessary to choose between them with any degree of confidence. That is what she said. She confirmed this when I met with her as well. Yet the choice between the individual and collective rights view was crucial to her work for Justice Marshall in the Sandidge case and was certainly important to her work during the Clinton administration.
Said by
John Ensign

Editor's note · Context

The speaker critiques Elena Kagan's understanding of the Second Amendment and her legal advice.

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