Kagan Questions

I had been not thrilled by the Kagan nomination to SCOTUS, but I was having a hard time knowing why. It was like I had little bits of data floating in my grey matter, her name connected to something I’d heard in the news here and there, but nothing was coming together. Not surprising since, frankly, the Lessig thing has taken first cranial position these days.

Then yesterday lawyer Chris Castle pointed me to an article in the Hollywood Reporter which settled the bits. I wasn’t crazy, there are reasons for concern. That whole Harvard cadre is something to wonder about. I certainly have issues with anyone who would think Tenenbaum was even remotely right in what he did and who would manipulate the system to help his defense. And there seems to be a general problem with the Harvard Law folks (recently, at least) and how things work in the real world (I’ve been saying that about Lessig, of course, and see more generally this post by Mr. Castle).

Remember, photographers, that your profession is closely connected to the entertainment industry–music, film, etc., all share many of the same fundamental legal concerns. So don’t think for a second that this doesn’t apply to you just because it doesn’t say “photography” specifically.

Anyway, maybe she’ll do a great job, maybe she’ll sell out creatives. Hard call. Once someone gets on the Court, often what s/he wrote or said before bears little on what s/he writes and decides after.