KAGAN SUPREME COURT -- June 29, 2010 at 5:19 PM EDT

Marcia Coyle Answers Viewer Questions on Day Two of Kagan Hearings

By: Quinn Bowman

Marcia Coyle, a regular NewsHour analyst and Washington Correspondent for the National Law Journal, spoke with Hari Sreenivasan during the lunch break in Tuesday's Senate hearings for Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan. Coyle is answering some of your questions and helping explain the confirmation process.

Viewer Tom Crisp commented on Facebook that with addition of Kagan, the Supreme Court seems homogeneous - many of the justices a product of the East Coast Ivy League schools.

Coyle responded: "Absolutely Tom, you're correct, it is quite homogeneous. I think though there are cetainly disadvantages to that, I think President Obama has been trying to diversify the bench somewhat. Right now he's been focused on gender, and also background - lack of judicial experience is something new that will bring different things to the court, if she is confirmed."

Be sure to send us your questions for Marcia @newshour on Facebook, Twitter or in the comments on the Rundown. And watch the NewsHour's live Kagan hearing coverage or read the SCOTUSblog live blog here.

The PBS NewsHour welcomes your original comments. We reserve the right to remove posts that do not follow these basic guidelines: comments must be relevant to the topic of the post; may not include profanity, personal attacks or hate speech; may not promote a business or raise money; may not be spam. Anything you post should be your own work. The PBS NewsHour reserves the right to read on the air and/or publish on its Web site or in any medium now known or unknown the comments or e-mails that we receive. By submitting comments, you agree to the PBS Terms of Use and Privacy Policy, which include more details.

The Rundown offers the NewsHour’s unique perspective on the important events of the day with insights from the journalists you trust. » More

Watch Full Programs
PBS NewsHour Support From: