Editorial: Obama picks Kagan

President Obama's new nominee for the Supreme Court, Elena Kagan, possesses impressive, meaningful legal credentials despite her lack of judicial experience.

Kagan, 50, already has broken through some glass ceilings. In 2003, she became the first female dean of Harvard Law School. Last year, she became the first female U.S. solicitor general, with responsibility for arguing the government's side of cases before the Supreme Court.

The president chose Kagan over three federal appeals court judges, saying he was looking for someone who understands the impact of the law on average Americans. Obama praised her "temperament and fair-mindedness."

The last justices who lacked prior judicial experience were William Rehnquist and Lewis Powell, appointed by President Nixon in 1972.

Despite never having served on the bench, Kagan possesses valuable qualifications for this lifetime job. In addition to her current high-pressure post, she served as an adviser in the White House during the Clinton administration. She was also a law clerk for Justice Thurgood Marshall, the first African American to serve on the court.

At Harvard Law, Kagan gained a reputation for bringing conservatives and liberals together. She is viewed as a forceful advocate who could provide a needed counterbalance to the court's conservative wing.

If confirmed, Kagan would replace retiring Justice John Paul Stevens, a liberal. It would be the first time that three women are serving together on the nine-member court, and Kagan would be the fourth female justice in its history.

Not having written judicial opinions, Kagan's ideology is something of a blank slate. A solicitor general advocates the government's position, not a personal view. Her scant written record could help win confirmation, but it also could be counted against her. Only seven Republicans voted for her Senate confirmation as solicitor general last year.

A Kagan appointment is unlikely to shift the court more to the left, but she could turn out to be a less liberal voice than Stevens. During her confirmation hearing last year, she favored broad executive powers for the president, including indefinite detention without trial for suspected terrorists. Such a view runs counter to Stevens', who has been the conscience of the court in protecting civil liberties.

Conservatives will no doubt press Kagan about her role at Harvard in briefly barring military recruiters from using the law school's main recruitment office. She has called the military's policy against openly gay soldiers "terribly wrong."

But the school had banned recruiters long before Kagan arrived. She at first allowed recruiters; then banned them for a semester after a court ruling in the school's favor. Harvard Law eventually backed down, again allowing recruiters in 2005, when the Pentagon threatened to withhold federal funds from the school.

The Senate will scrutinize Kagan's record and her views. But at this early stage, her nomination appears to be a sound one.