Obama nominates Supreme Court justice
Published:Monday | May 10, 2010 | 1:10 PM
US President Barack Obama has nominated Solicitor-General Elena Kagan as the 112th justice to the Supreme Court.
Ms Kagan, a 50-year-old former Harvard Law School dean, will be the youngest member and third woman on the current court as well as the first justice in many years not to have been a judge.
The Senate must confirm whether the nominee, who has spent much of her professional life in academia can replace retiring Justice John Paul Stevens.
Republicans have warned that Ms. Kagan will not receive automatic approval.
Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader in the Senate, says her brief litigation experience must first be reviewed.
If confirmed, she will join Sonia Sotomayor, also chosen by Mr. Obama and Ruth Bader Ginsburg in bringing the number of women justices on the Supreme Court to three, the highest in the court\'s history.