Your Take: Why Elena Kagan is a Good Choice for the Supreme Court

the Root.com
By: Charles J. Ogletree Jr.
Posted: May 12, 2010 at 5:42 PM
Former Harvard Law colleague Charles Ogletree Jr. offers a vigorous defense of the nominee.

I am writing to follow up on some of the concerns I am hearing about my colleague Elena Kagan's civil rights record and whether she would be a fit candidate for the U.S. Supreme Court. While it is certainly up to the President to find the ideal person and to look at a number of factors in reaching a decision, I hear criticisms of Elena Kagan that are contrary to my knowledge of her during the last 25 years or so, and that do not adequately represent her record. I share this with you so that you'll have a more complete assessment of Elena Kagan's views on race and civil rights matters.
After graduating from Harvard Law School and clerking in the circuit court, Kagan ultimately clerked for Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall. I don't think anyone can recall a negative word that Marshall ever said about Elena Kagan, and in fact, when he spoke about her, it was always in glowing terms. Elena taught at the University of Chicago before joining the Harvard Law School faculty. As a result of Kagan's tenacity, focus, and clarity, the university leadership ultimately appointed her as the first woman dean of Harvard Law School.

Full Story: http://www.theroot.com/views/your-take-why-elena-kagan-good-choice-supreme-court?page=0,0

What to Learn in Obama’s ‘Teachable’ Race Moment?

Diverse Issues in Higher Education
by JESSE WASHINGTON, AP National Writer
Jul 31, 2009, 07:50

You can’t solve a problem if you don’t discuss it.
That’s why some say that despite all the accusations and emotions hindering the resolution of the Henry Louis Gates Jr. imbroglio, there is opportunity for racial progress in President Barack Obama’s “teachable moment” sitdown with Gates and Sgt. James Crowley.
“If nothing else, it's an important national symbol of a discussion that needs to be held,” said Clarence B. Jones, once a confidant of Martin Luther King Jr. and author of What Would Martin Say?
“If it’s just regarded as the president bringing two guys together to clear the air, then it’s meaningless,” said Jones. “But if it’s really intended to say in effect to the country, ‘Look, the difficulties that occurred here are really emblematic of deeper issues,’ it can work.”
Beyond the symbolic, the meeting is an opportunity for the White cop, the Black Harvard scholar and the biracial president “to say that they’re wrong when they are wrong, to learn from one another’s perspective as opposed to defending their own perspective,” said Tali Hairston, director of the John Perkins Center for
Reconciliation, Leadership Training and Community Development at Seattle Pacific University.
Harvard Law School professor Charles Ogletree, an attorney for Gates, said they hoped to settle the dispute and “create a springboard for a larger discussion about how law enforcement interacts with minority communities and how we can figure out a way to both enforce the law but also protect civil liberties and civil rights.”

Full Story: http://diverseeducation.com/artman/publish/article_12795.shtml

Lawyer's Statement on the Arrest of Henry Louis Gates Jr.

The Root
By: The Root Staff
Posted: July 20, 2009 at 7:26 PM
Henry Louis Gates Jr. Arrested

Charles Ogletree gives Gates' side of the story in controversial arrest of The Root's editor-in-chief.

Henry Louis Gates Jr. was arrested at his home in Cambridge, Mass. after a white female passerby thought he was breaking into his own house and called police.
UPDATE: The disorderly conduct charges against Henry Louis Gates Jr. were dropped on Tuesday.

Statement on Behalf of Henry Louis Gates, Jr. -- by Charles Ogletree

This brief statement is being submitted on behalf of my client, friend, and colleague, Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr. This is a statement concerning the arrest [1]of Professor Gates. On July 16, 2009, Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr., 58, the Alphonse Fletcher University Professor of Harvard University, was headed from Logan airport to his home [in] Cambridge after spending a week in China, where he was filming his new PBS documentary entitled “Faces of America.” Professor Gates was driven to his home by a driver for a local car company. Professor Gates attempted to enter his front door, but the door was damaged. Professor Gates then entered his rear door with his key, turned off his alarm, and again attempted to open the front door. With the help of his driver they were able to force the front door open, and then the driver carried Professor Gates’ luggage into his home.
Professor Gates immediately called the Harvard Real Estate office to report the damage to his door and requested that it be repaired immediately. As he was talking to the Harvard Real Estate office on his portable phone in his house, he observed a uniformed officer on his front porch. When Professor Gates opened the door, the officer immediately asked him to step outside. Professor Gates remained inside his home and asked the officer why he was there. The officer indicated that he was responding to a 911 call about a breaking and entering in progress at this address. Professor Gates informed the officer that he lived there and was a faculty member at Harvard University. The officer then asked Professor Gates whether he could prove that he lived there and taught at Harvard. Professor Gates said that he could, and turned to walk into his kitchen, where he had left his wallet. The officer followed him. Professor Gates handed both his Harvard University identification and his valid Massachusetts driver’s license to the officer. Both include Professor Gates’ photograph, and the license includes his address.

Full Statement: http://www.theroot.com/views/lawyers-statement-arrest-henry-louis-gates-jr