The Sixth Circuit’s Circuit Justice, Justice Kagan, gave a very interesting luncheon presentation today at the Sixth Circuit Judicial Conference. She was interviewed by Judge Gibbons and Judge Clay on a number of subjects, from internal Court practice to hunting trips with Justice Scalia. We’ve previously posted about amicus briefs, and Justice Kagan generally had a positive view of the amicus briefs that the Court receives. While not all are helpful, of course, some are “extremely useful” and she makes sure to at least flip through them all and have her clerks read them. Justice Kagan also noted that she follows Scotusblog and How Appealing periodically, so we’ll need to convince her to add the Sixth Circuit Appellate Blog to her reading list!
One historical fact of note – Justice Kagan, who was then Solicitor General Kagan, attended the previous Sixth Circuit Judicial Conference in Columbus in 2010. Justice Stevens was also there, and at the time there was much speculation as to whether SG Kagan would be nominated to fill Justice Stevens’ seat. As we know, she was, and the Circuit is very enthusiastic about having her as its Circuit Justice.