ON THE DOCKET

Kagan Faces Crucial Early Cases

Three hot issues heading for Court.

Want a sneak peek at Justice Kagan’s early tenure? Three hot-button issues are likely to come to the Supreme Court for a decision within the next few years: Arizona’s controversial immigration law, same-sex marriage, and the federal mandate to buy insurance included in health-care reform. Based on her record, legal analysts expect Kagan to vote in favor of both same-sex marriage and the insurance requirement and against Arizona’s law. What isn’t clear is whether those votes will be part of a majority or not, and that depends on Anthony Kennedy, the court’s moderate swing vote. Kagan has been wooing Kennedy for years, going back to her days as dean of Harvard Law, during which she lured him to campus for speaking engagements and showered him with praise. Kennedy has an “obviously huge influence on the court,” Kagan said in front of the justice four years ago.