Page 76 - John Kyle News Today

Kotarski -- and in assessing whether the court should take the case, you wrote, quote, its even possible that the good guys might win on this issue u. now, that wouldnt be a very good basis on which to suggest taking a case, would it? and you were the good guys. >> as i took a look at that memo, senator kyl, that was just a reference to the people whom i thought justice marshall would favor on the law. and thats all the reference was meant to suggest. just the people whom i thought justice marsh...

She i thought gave us a little bit of judicial philosophy, because the republicans are really getting some areas that often these nominees try to skirt. and she went really there in terms of her own constitutional interpretation of the supreme court case. and citizens united, first amendment. so i think this has been a good hearing for her so far. >> in fact, gloria, i know the republicans went into this, many of them, looking at a teachable moment, as they like to say. emotionally, its a teacha...

That what elena kagan revealed or maybe more to the point, clarified, was in the memo that she had scribbled notes, kkk, nra, as a bad organization. that has been flying around conservative circles as a hot moment. and when they saw these documents i think about a week or two weeks ago when they were released by the clinton library as proof that she is just a liberal, what she told us just now, what she told senator kyl is that she was taking notes on somebody elses conversation. so if thats the...

Position of corporations in big business? >> senator kyl, i would not want to characterize the current court in any way. i hope one day to join it. >> and they said youre not political, right? i appreciate it. let me explore your judicial philosophy just a little bit more here. whether you agree with the comment that justice marshall said, he said you do what you think is right, and then let the law catch up. do you agree that thats the right way to approach judging? >> the way i would judge is ...

Said i guess nobody wants to hear my questions and without missing a beat, she said maybe nobody wants to hear my answers. and another time, he and senator leahy were having a little disagreement. theyre kind of like an old married couple, and i say this respectly, and elena kagan saying, go ahead, it takes the spotlight off me. i dont remember seeing that certainly from recent confirmation hearings at this level, not from sonia sotomayor, and at least at the beginning, you know, as these nomine...

With the karzai government, trying to get the build part, which is to say, government services into these areas. a local government of some sort, trying to get that part to go faster. because its clearly a very difficult situation. we want to go to the other committee hearing that we have been following, and is that is the confirmation hearings of elena kagan to be the next supreme court justice. she is now being questioned by senator john kyle, the number two republican in the house. here they ...

Interest in protecting the rights of those who are disadvantaged, for example, or as you have already expressed here, you would simply base it on the facts and the law. and the constitution. >> the thing of glory, senator kyle, is that the court are open to all people and will listen respectfully and with attention to all claims. and at that point, the decision is what the law requires. and there may be differences as to what the law does require. but its what the law requires. and thats whats -...

Civil rights community, but he was a great lawyer. and someone who i think often wanted his law clerks to think out the box and to bring issues to him that he could personally look at before deciding some of these major cases. >> well, its clear what was bothering the republicans was the quote, which was essentially not quite this, from thurgood marshall. you know, you -- you make -- you make -- you follow the way you want to go, and you hope the law catches up, was essentially that. and i think...

An abbreviation for organizations. so if youre presented a case involving, for example, the nra, would you consider the nra to be a bad guy org? deserving of defeat in the case? >> senator kyl, im sure that that was not my reference. the notes that youre referring to are notes on a telephone call. basically me jotting down things that were said to me. and i dont remember that conversation at all. but just the way i wrote telephone notes is not to quote myself. >> okay. so youre -- your belief is...

Would have taken acase. would you agree with that? >> you know, i dont know that, senator kyl. sometimes they listen to us, and sometimes they dont. sometimes we tell them in no uncertain terms, this is a terrible case to take, and they take it anyway. >> but the stats are 80%. so thats a pretty good percentage. when you ask them to take a case and they do. >> was this a case where the supreme court asked solicitor general to file a brief? >> this was a case. and those were the -- the 80% statis...