The Supremes

The five questions Republicans are afraid to ask Elena Kagan

Elena Kagan won't be getting these questions in her Supreme Court conformation hearings.

When it comes to the confirmation hearings of Supreme Court nominee and Soliciter General Elena Kagan, Republicans are expected to put on the pressure on Tuesday in the hopes of winning an unforced verbal error. But some questions just won't fly, whether because they don't fit the narrative, might lead to political backlash or just come across as too personal.

Below, five questions that will most certainly not be on the agenda:

5. As dean of Harvard Law School, you denied military recruiters access to the career services office. When it comes to military service, what makes Harvard students so uniquely unqualified? (Is it that so many have spent years smoking clove cigarettes? Or the inability to follow orders that results from reading Camus?)

4. You say your hero is Thurgood Marshall, for whom you clerked. To what degree was his appointment based on affirmative action? How was he able to overcome a minority background to be an impartial justice, and how will you help keep Sotomayor in line?

3. As a Clinton administration employee, can you tell us what the meaning of "is" is?

2. In your own words, how does your work in the political arena for the Clinton and Obama administration disqualify you for a role in the impartial judiciary? Bonus points if you can figure out a way that this would not apply to senators.

1. Which of the following musical acts from the 1990s do you like best: The Indigo Girls, Ani DiFranco or Melissa Etheridge? What do you listen to while playing softball? Implying? What could I possibly be implying?

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Thanks, Queen Bey

Pop icon Beyoncé donates $100,000 to University of Houston Law School

Photo by Erza Shaw Getty Images

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Pop megastar Beyoncé Knowles-Carter has donated $100,000 to the University of Houston Law Center Criminal Justice Clinic through her BeyGOOD Foundation. The gift will allow the clinic to hire fill-time faculty to head it, benefiting the students who study there.

“I am delighted that the BeyGOOD Foundation has made this very generous gift to the UH Law Center,” said Leonard Baynes, dean of the UH Law Center. “Not only will this funding help establish a full-time criminal justice clinic that provides pro bono legal services in our community, but it will also supercharge our already excellent criminal law and justice programming.”

The clinic is one of nine at UHLC. It helps students learn to navigate the criminal justice system, especially on behalf of clients that are underserved by skilled attorneys. People of color are affected disproportionately by a lack of good, ethical representation.

Beyoncé, the most decorated artist in Grammy history and easily the biggest musical star native to Houston, has a long history of advocating for criminal justice reform. She was a staunch supporter of the police reform following the deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, asking law enforcement to “stop killing us” in a web post. In 2020, she penned an open letter to the Kentucky attorney general asking for justice in the death of Breonna Taylor.

Through her BeyGOOD Foundation, established in 2013, Beyoncé has focused mostly on expanding the prospects of Black-owned business and offering education opportunities to students. Forwarding the cause of legal representation in Texas while also helping out marginalized communities compliments her other philanthropic work.

“At UH Law, we envision a legal profession where ‘everyone has the opportunity to prosper,’ as BeyGOOD envisions, and we will achieve this vision by providing access to strong and effective legal representation in criminal proceedings,” Baynes said. “And together, through this gift, the BeyGOOD Foundation and UHLC will shepherd the next generation of criminal justice attorneys in the city of Houston, the state of Texas and the nation.”