Tags

,

Justice Stevens retired on June 28, 2010, the last day of the Court’s October 2009 Term. His successor’s nomination hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee began about 30 minutes later. I was able to witness both.

Instructions for receiving Kagan tickets:

IMG_3681SCOTUS tickets were distributed around 7:30 A.M., leaving me plenty of time to snag a Kagan ticket near the Russell Building at 8. As I stood in line, I learned that Robert Byrd, the longest-serving senator in U.S. history, had died that morning (the day after Marty Ginsburg).

The Court always reclaims oral-argument tickets, but I got to keep this:

IMG_3735Here’s the inside of the Hart Senate Office Building on the day Kagan’s hearings began:

inside Hart BuildingJudiciary Committee staff escorted me and several others into the hearing room during the day’s first intermission. In this photo, I see SCOTUSBlog’s Tom Goldstein and Amy Howe, Professor Laurence Tribe, Senator Pat Leahy, and F11F’s Mike Sacks:

IMG_3761Here’s Tom Goldstein taking a picture of me taking a picture of him:

IMG_3762Here’s me taking a picture of Tom Goldstein taking a picture of me:

IMG00125-20100630-1409The back of Professor Tribe’s head, and Kagan’s ear:

IMG_3793The nominee:

KaganGoldstein and Garrett Epps:

IMG_3778Yours truly:

IMG_3783Senator Franken:

Al FrankenSenators Graham and Klobuchar:

Amy KlobucharSenator Grassley:

Chuck GrassleySenator Coburn:

IMG_3781Senators Cornyn and Coburn:

Tom CoburnSenator Leahy:

IMG_3796Senator Sessions:

Jeff SessionsA very blurry Joan Biskupic:

Joan BiskupicSenator Cornyn:

John CornynSenator Kyl:

John KylSenators Graham and Franken:

Lindsey GrahamSenator Leahy:

Pat LeahyAnd finally, Valerie Jarrett’s back:

Valerie Jarrett