Author: CNN

Israeli-American hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin criticized the Israeli government and urged his family to stay strong in the video released by Hamas on Wednesday.

Goldberg-Polin’s hair is cropped short in the video, which is edited with a number of cuts from wide shot to close up. It is the first proof that he survived his injuries sustained during the militant group’s October 7 attacks.

He criticizes the Israeli government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as other Israeli hostages in Hamas propaganda videos have done. Held captive in Gaza for six months, he is almost certainly speaking under duress.

He mentions Israeli government ministers sitting down to holiday dinners with their families, an apparent reference to the Jewish holiday of Passover, which began Monday night and is traditionally celebrated with a family dinner. 

He urges his own family to stay strong for him and finishes by saying he hopes he was able to give them some comfort on the holiday.

Goldberg-Polin was born in the United States but his family moved to Israel in 2008.

His parents, Rachel Goldberg and Jon Polin, told CNN shortly after the attacks that they last heard from their son that day, when they received two WhatsApp messages in the same minute; one reading “I love you.” and the next “I’m sorry.” Goldberg immediately tried to call him, but said: “It just rang and rang.” 

The Supreme Court heard oral arguments Wednesday on whether Idaho’s abortion ban can be enforced in medical emergencies, putting a spotlight on what has been one of the most politically explosive flashpoints in the aftermath of Roe v. Wade’s demise. 

Here are key takeaways from today’s high-stakes hearing:

US solicitor general tailors her appeal to an abortion-hostile court as “narrow” circumstances of medical emergencies: US Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar said that there was a real conflict between Idaho’s law and the federal law, known as the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA), but she painted it as a narrow one. She stressed that, in this case, the administration is not trying to interfere with Idaho’s overall ability to criminalize abortions outside of certain medical emergencies.

Idaho and its defenders argue that the Biden administration is trying to circumvent the Supreme Court’s 2022 ruling that let states prohibit abortion, and to rebut that argument, Prelogar described Idaho has an outlier among states that have banned the procedure.

Prelogar’s argument was met with deep skepticism from several of the court’s conservative justices, but others – including Chief Justice John Roberts and Amy Coney Barrett– asked probing questions of both sides. The court’s liberal wing, meanwhile, all signaled they would coalesce around the Biden administration.

Idaho attorney struggles with questions from female justices about serious pregnancy complications: Idaho’s attorney Joshua Turner was subjected to a brutal and extended line of questioning from the female justices of the court exploring how the state’s abortion ban plays out in medical emergencies – particularly in dire situations where a woman’s health is at risk but her life is not yet in danger.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor asked Turner point blank: “What you are saying is that there is no federal law on the book that prohibits any state from saying, even if a woman will die, you can’t perform an abortion?”

Justice Elena Kagan offered a hypothetical in which a woman was about to lose her reproductive organs due to a pregnancy complication. As Turner danced around the “difficult” and “tough” situation her question as posing, she pushed harder: “That would be a good response if federal law did not take a position on what you characterize as a ‘tough question.’”

Keep reading takeaways from the arguments.

CNN
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Here’s a look at the life of Bob Graham, former United States senator and Democratic governor of Florida.

Birth date: November 9, 1936

Death date: April 16, 2024

Birth place: Coral Gables, Florida

Birth name: Daniel Robert Graham

Father: Ernest “Cap” Graham, Florida state senator, dairy farmer and cattle rancher

Mother: Hilda (Simmons) Graham, teacher

Marriage: Adele (Khoury) Graham (1959-present)

Children: Kendall, Suzanne, Cissy and Gwen

Education: University of Florida, B.A., 1959; Harvard Law School, LL.B., 1962

Graham’s family operates dairy, beef cattle and pecan farms in Florida and Georgia.

Was a primary author of portions of the Patriot Act that dealt with improving and sharing intelligence between US and foreign agencies.

Co-chaired the congressional investigation into the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

Voted against going to war with Iraq in 2003.

Graham’s daughter, Gwen, represented Florida’s 2nd Congressional District (Tallahassee), 2015-2017.

1966-1970 – Member of the Florida House of Representatives.

1970-1978 – Member of the Florida Senate.

1979-1987 – Governor of Florida.

January 3, 1987-January 3, 2005 – US Senator representing Florida.

2001-2003 – Chairman of the US Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.

January 31, 2003 – Undergoes heart surgery to repair a valve.

February 27, 2003 – Files papers to form a presidential campaign committee.

May 6, 2003 – Formally launches his presidential campaign.

October 6, 2003 – Announces he is dropping out of the presidential race.

November 3, 2003 – Announces that he will not seek reelection to the Senate in 2004.

September 2004 – Graham’s book “Intelligence Matters: The CIA, the FBI, Saudi Arabia, and the Failure of America’s War on Terror,” written with Jeff Nussbaum, is published.

2005-2006 – Senior Research Fellow, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard University.

2006 – The Bob Graham Center for Public Service at the University of Florida is established.

May 16, 2008 – Congressional leaders appoint Graham to chair the Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation and Terrorism. In December 2008, the commission issues a report, saying it is likely a WMD attack will occur somewhere in the world by 2013 if nothing is done to enhance security.

2009 – Graham’s book “America, The Owner’s Manual: Making Government Work for You,” written with Chris Hand, is published.

May 2010 – President Barack Obama establishes a commission led by Graham and former Environmental Protection Agency Commissioner William Reilly on the BP Gulf of Mexico oil spill and offshore drilling. The commission ends its work in January 2011.

June 2011 – Graham’s first novel, “Keys to the Kingdom,” is published.

September 2012 – Graham calls for the investigation into the September 11 terrorist attacks be reopened. He asserts that Saudi Arabia’s involvement in the attacks has been covered up.

January 2014 – Graham visits Cuba as part of a group sponsored by the Council on Foreign Relations in order to investigate Cuban plans to drill for oil offshore.

September 9, 2016 – Graham has an op-ed in The New York Times calling for the release of more documents related to the September 11 terrorist attacks.

November 24, 2020 – Graham’s children’s book, “Rhoda the Alligator,” is published.

April 16, 2024 – Graham’s daughter announces that he has died.

Demonstrators on Sunday breached a security barrier meant to keep opposing protest groups apart on the UCLA campus, and the two sides have come face-to-face, at times screaming at one another and shoving back and forth.

A CNN team is on the ground watching the crowd, where pro-Palestinian demonstrators have gathered to support an encampment protesting Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, and a group of counter-protesters draped in Israeli flags has erected a video screen and speaker set-up.

“Very high passions on both sides, and when these two come together we have seen confrontations,” CNN’s Camila Bernal reported from the campus. “People who are screaming at each other, sometimes shoving and pushing, and it does get violent at times.”

Organizers from each group have told Bernal that they are trying to keep the peace.

The CNN team has seen police officers in riot gear standing at a distance from the crowd, but university officials have said police will not intervene unless they feel students are in harm’s way.

The school’s vice chancellor for strategic communications, Mary Osako, confirmed in a statement that demonstrators had “breached” a barrier between the groups, and that there were “physical altercations” between protesters.

“UCLA has a long history of being a place of peaceful protest, and we are heartbroken about the violence that broke out,” the statement reads.

Information about any potential injuries has not been made available.

Watch Camila Bernal’s report from the UCLA campus

This post has been updated with additional reporting from the UCLA campus.

CNN
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Here’s a look at Kashmir, a region in the Himalayan and Karakoram mountain ranges. India, Pakistan and China all claim partial or complete ownership of Kashmir.

Kashmir is an 86,000-square mile region in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent.

India and Pakistan have been fighting over Kashmir since both countries gained their independence in 1947.

Between 1989 and 2008, more than 47,000 people were killed in separatist violence, according to the Indian government. Some human rights groups and nongovernmental organizations say the death toll is higher.

Hundreds are still killed every year in separatist violence, according to human rights groups.

The Line of Control separates Indian and Pakistani-controlled parts of Kashmir.

India-controlled: One state, called Jammu and Kashmir, makes up the southern and eastern portions of the region. Srinagar is the summer capital city. Jammu (city) is the winter capital.

Pakistan-controlled: Three areas called Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan make up the northern and western portions of the region. The capital of Azad Kashmir is Muzaffarabad.

China-controlled: One area called Aksai Chin in the northernmost part of the region.

Kashmir: India and Pakistan’s bitter dispute

1947 – India and Pakistan gain independence from Great Britain. Kashmir initially decides to remain independent, choosing not to become a part of either Pakistan or India. After militants from Pakistan invade, the Maharaja of Kashmir signs a letter acceding to India. Pakistan does not recognize the letter as a legal document, sparking war.

January 1, 1949 – India and Pakistan agree to withdraw all troops behind a mutually agreed ceasefire line, later known as the Line of Control.

1965 – India and Pakistan go to war again over Kashmir.

1989 – Islamic militants begin an uprising in Indian-controlled Kashmir.

1999 – India and Pakistan fight a limited border conflict in Kashmir, after armed invaders cross the Line of Control in the town of Kargil.

July 25, 2000 – Hizbul Mujahedeen, a pro-Pakistan Kashmiri militant group, declares a unilateral ceasefire for three months in Jammu and Kashmir.

August 8, 2000 – Hizbul Mujahedeen calls off its ceasefire.

May 23, 2001 – India ends a six-month ceasefire while also inviting Pakistani military ruler, General Pervez Musharraf, to peace talks aimed at ending five decades of hostilities between the two countries.

July 14-16, 2001 – Musharraf and Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee meet in Agra, India, for a three-day summit. The talks fail to produce a joint statement on Kashmir.

December 20, 2001 – The Indian army deploys troops on its border with Pakistan in the northern states of Kashmir and Punjab after an attack by militants on the Indian Parliament building. Pakistani troops also buildup across the frontier.

January 12, 2002 – Musharraf announces a ban on two Kashmiri militant groups.

October 2002 – Four rounds of polls to choose a new state administration conclude in Indian-controlled Kashmir. About 300-500 people are killed during the election campaign.

November 2003 – India agrees to a Pakistani offer of a ceasefire along their borders in the disputed region of Kashmir. The ceasefire goes into effect November 26 and is the first ceasefire in 14 years.

January 4, 2004 – Vajpayee meets with Musharraf in Islamabad. It is their first direct contact in two years.

March 28, 2008 – Human rights workers find nearly 1,000 unmarked graves near the Line of Control. Hundreds of protestors in Indian Kashmir later clash with police, demanding an investigation into the graves.

October 21, 2008 – India and Pakistan open a trade route for the first time in six decades on the Line of Control. Fruit, clothing and spices are among the items being transported.

January 14, 2011 – India’s home secretary announces that India will cut its security forces in Kashmir over the next 12 months.

February 10, 2011 – Pakistan and India agree to resume peace talks that halted after the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks.

July 27, 2011 – Pakistani Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar meets with Indian Foreign Minister S.M. Krishna in New Delhi to discuss ways to improve travel and trade across Kashmir.

February 2015 – The Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the People’s Democratic Party (PDP,) a regional party backed by the Muslim majority, announce the formation of a coalition government in Indian-controlled Kashmir. This follows five rounds of elections in 2014 without a clear winner and is the first time that the BJP will be part of the governing coalition in the state assembly. The coalition government is sworn in on March 1, 2015.

January 2016 – The death of the chief minister of the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, creates tumult within the coalition government. The presumptive successor is Mehbooba Mufti, Sayeed’s daughter. She declines to take the oath of office, however, as relations fray between the PDP and the BJP. With the power-sharing alliance in crisis, Governor’s rule is imposed in accordance with the Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir.

April 4, 2016 – Mehbooba Mufti is sworn in as the first female chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir.

September 18, 2016 – Armed militants enter an Indian army base in the town of Uri and kill 18 soldiers. Several hours later, four militants are killed in a shootout with the Indian army.

September 29, 2016 – Two Pakistani soldiers are killed after clashes with Indian troops on the border.

October 2016 – India relocates more than 10,000 people from around the disputed border area as tensions continue to escalate with Pakistan.

November 15, 2016 – Raja Farooq Haider, the prime minister of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, says the government has moved 8,000 people to safer places in the wake of ongoing “Indian shelling,” and plans are being made to move others. In response, Indian defense spokesman Lt. Col. Manish Mehta tells CNN, “We always respond appropriately and effectively whenever there is a ceasefire violation from the Pakistan side.”

August 1, 2017 – Violent protests erupt over the killing of Abu Dujana, the Pakistani commander of the terror group, Lashkar-e-Taiba.

February 14, 2019 – At least 40 are killed when a bomb explodes near a convoy of Indian paramilitary personnel.

February 26, 2019 – Pakistan declares it will retaliate “at the time and place of its choosing” after India conducts airstrikes on an alleged terrorist training camp inside Pakistan territory, in the first such incursion by Indian air force planes since the war in 1971.

February 27, 2019 – Pakistan says its air force shot down two Indian fighter jets over Kashmir. India confirms the loss of one plane and says it shot down a Pakistani jet as it responded to the incident.

March 1, 2019 – Pakistan announces that it will release an Indian pilot who was being held in custody.

August 5, 2019 – Tensions between India and Pakistan increase after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announces that India will revoke a constitutional provision giving the state of Jammu and Kashmir autonomy to set its own laws. In the wake of the announcement, widespread communications blackouts are reported in the Muslim majority region.

August 6, 2019 – India’s parliament votes to approve the status change for the state of Jammu and Kashmir. The reorganization bill increases New Delhi’s authority over the region, changing it from an autonomous state into a union territory. Pakistan responds that the change is illegal. “If the world does not act now, if the so-called developed world does not uphold its own laws, then things will go to a place that will damage the whole world,” says Imran Khan, prime minister of Pakistan.

August 7, 2019 – Pakistan announces that diplomatic relations and bilateral trade with India are being suspended.

August 8, 2019 – Modi delivers a televised address in which he claims that revoking Kashmir’s autonomous status will promote stability, reduce corruption and boost the economy. Pakistan’s foreign minister says the country will remain vigilant but no military options are being considered. The United Nations issues a statement calling on both countries to resolve the issue peacefully while respecting human rights in the region.

October 31, 2019 – Jammu and Kashmir officially lose statehood status and become two union territories.

May 19, 2023 – According to Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin, China will not attend a Group of 20 (G20) meeting in Jammu and Kashmir hosted by India, citing its opposition “to holding any kind of G20 meetings in disputed territory.”

Lagos, Nigeria
CNN
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Appreciating cultural heritage and using it to imagine a better future: that’s one of the goals of self-taught photographer and visual artist Ade Okelarin.

Professionally, he goes by the name of “Àsìkò” – the word for “time” or “the moment” in Yoruba, one of the languages in his home country of Nigeria. Drawing on aspects of traditional Yoruba culture has been an important aspect of his creative journey. Through two recent series titled “Guardians” and “Of Myth and Legend,” he explores the iconography of Yoruba deities, or “Òrìshàs.”

In Yoruba history, the Òrìshàs were sacred beings with divine powers, and the belief in them continues beyond West Africa, having been transmitted by slaves and their descendants in the Caribbean and South America, among other places. But growing up in Nigeria in the 1980s and 1990s, where mainstream education around indigenous beliefs was not common, Okelarin says his journey as an artist has been about deconstructing previous knowledge.

“The work is about exploration and understanding the things I was not taught in school,” Okelarin said, “and creating a space for me to understand heritage and creating something with legacy.”

His portraits and images of Òrìshàs combine traditional photography with artificial intelligence (AI), digital editing techniques and collaging, and are Okelarin’s way of drawing connections between various global mythologies, through which, he says, we are all linked in our deep-rooted stories.

While researching the projects, he noticed similarities between elements of Yoruba and Western mythology, such as the Yoruba deity Sango and Norse god Thor, both of whom are deities of thunder and lightning, and the Òrìshà Olokun, who represents the sea, like her Greek counterpart Poseidon.

The premise of his work, he says, is “looking back to look forward” to know where Africans are from as a society and help carve a future “shaped not by Westernization, but a grounding of cultural ideology and aesthetics.”

Okelarin moved to the UK in 1995 and says his research into his own culture changed his frame of reference from that of a Western gaze to one that celebrates a “beautiful different point of view” and helped him understand his heritage.

“In the world of increasing globalization, it is important to maintain a sense of identity that informs better societal structures,” Okelarin said. “Westernization is not the answer to advancement, but we need a blend of who we are and what the world offers or we will lose what makes us ‘us.’” Creating and sharing these images using modern technology and techniques is one way to show that “our stories matter” he adds.

Despite having had an affinity for art and photography for as long as he can remember – growing up in Nigeria surrounded by African art his father collected – Okelarin studied chemistry and worked in the pharmaceutical industry as a data architect, due in part, he says, to “Nigerian parents who didn’t want (him) to be a starving artist.” But a shift in mindset over time prompted him to focus full-time on photography by 2015.

Raising awareness about socio-political issues that affect his community and society is another of his roles as an artist, says Okelarin. He says his journey, culture and experiences as a Yoruba man living in the UK are the lifeblood of his work, which has covered topics including female genital mutilation, masculinity, mysticism, identity, and race.

His mythological imagery, as well as other projects, such as the 2020 series “She is Adorned,” utilize the concept of layering, with subjects literally adorned in layers of African beads and jewelry. Okelarin also uses digital rendering, layering the photographs with aspects of his cultural heritage, such as fabric and textures. This blending of different processes – conventional photography with AI – has “opened strong imaginative possibilities” for him.

Some of those new possibilities include painting and sculptural work, he says. In 2022, he created a globe artwork for the World Re-imagined project, a British art history education project around the transatlantic slave trade in which over 100 globes were placed across the UK.

His work has exhibited in the UK, Nigeria and the US, and he recently launched his first set of NFTs with the Bridge gallery, a fine art NFT photography gallery.

With work that reaches into the past, and which is ever evolving, Okelarin says he continues to open himself up to the journey to allow for experimentation and growth.

“As I have grown older, I have found the culture I come from has a beauty and a resonance to it,” he said. “Living in the diaspora, now more than ever, my cultural heritage is a big part of my identity and who I am. It is a strength.”

A Northeastern University student organization, Huskies for a Free Palestine, says it was not infiltrated by outside organizers, as school officials had said after shutting down a protest encampment at the Boston campus.

About 100 people were detained at the encampment, though the school said those with a valid school ID were released and will face school disciplinary proceedings rather than legal action. The school said in a statement that the group had been “infiltrated by professional organizers with no affiliation to Northeastern.”

“We were not ‘infiltrated’ in any way, shape or form by ‘professional protestors’, no one hired, it was comprised primarily of students,” the student group said in a statement Saturday.

Claims about hate speech: The organization is also disputing the university’s statement that the “use of virulent antisemitic slurs, including ‘Kill the Jews,'” was among the reasons for shutting the protest down.

Videos shared with CNN show what appears to be at least two counter-protesters holding an Israeli flag attempting to provoke the crowd to chant, “Kill the Jews.”

After yelling the antisemitic remark, one of them is heard saying, “Anyone on board? Anyone on board?” Some protesters responded with boos.

Asked for any additional comment, the school’s vice president of communications, Renata Nyul, said “the fact that the phrase ‘Kill the Jews’ was shouted on our campus is not in dispute,” citing news reports and video from the scene.

“Any suggestion that repulsive antisemitic comments are sometimes acceptable depending on the context is reprehensible,” Nyul said. “That language has no place on any university campus.”

Faculty group criticizes response: In a statement Saturday, Northeastern University Faculty & Staff for Justice in Palestine also spoke out against the university’s handling of the protest.

“We were shocked to learn that the Northeastern administration issued a statement claiming that the university’s decision to arrest those in the encampment was triggered by an antisemitic statement allegedly made by protesters,” the group said.

“Numerous videos that have been posted online, along with eye-witness accounts from a WGBH reporter and others, make it clear that the phrase in question — ‘Kill the Jews’ — was uttered by a pro-Israel counter-demonstrator who was seeking to provoke the students at the encampment.”

CNN
 — 

Here’s a look at the Tony Awards which honor achievements on Broadway.

June 11, 2023 – The 76th Tony Awards take place.

The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League.

Only productions staged in designated Broadway theatres are eligible for nominations.

The musical that holds the record for most Tony Awards is “The Producers,” in 2001. It won 12 awards out of 15 nominations.

The hip-hop infused musical “Hamilton” earned a record-setting 16 Tony nominations on May 3, 2016, including Best Musical and Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical for playwright/star Lin-Manuel Miranda.

Producer/director Harold “Hal” Prince has won the most Tony Awards overall (21).

Actress Audra McDonald has won the most Tony awards as a performer (six).

The Tonys are named after Antoinette Perry, a Broadway actress and director who died in 1946. Her charitable work with the American Theatre Wing during WWII inspired the Broadway community to create an award in her honor.

The American Theatre Wing became famous for the “Stage Door Canteens,” in which GIs could drop in and be entertained by famous Hollywood and Broadway stars.

If there is only one nominee, the category is submitted to the Tony Voters. An affirmative vote of 60% of the total ballots cast will grant an Award in that category.

April 6, 1947 – The first Tony Awards are presented at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York.

The first “Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play” award is a tie with Ingrid Bergman for “Joan of Lorraine” and Helen Hayes for “Happy Birthday.”

The first “Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play” award is also a tie, between Jose Ferrer for “Cyrano de Bergerac” and Fredric March for “Years Ago.”

1956 – The Tony Awards are broadcast on television for the first time, on the Dumont Network.

Best Play
“Leopoldstadt”

Best Musical
“Kimberly Akimbo”

Best Revival of a Play
“Topdog/Underdog”

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play
Sean Hayes, “Good Night, Oscar”

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play
Jodie Comer, “Prima Facie”

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical
J. Harrison Ghee, “Some Like It Hot”

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical
Victoria Clark, “Kimberly Akimbo”

The full list of winners

CNN
 — 

Mother’s Day is observed on the second Sunday in May in the United States. It is also celebrated in other countries.

May 12, 2024 – Mother’s Day.

In 2022, 27.4 was the average age in the United States for first-time mothers, according to the CDC.

In its early days, people observed Mother’s Day by going to church and by writing letters to their mothers. Eventually, sending cards and giving gifts and flowers were added to the tradition.

In 2024, the National Retail Federation (NRF) estimates that US consumers will spend $33.5 billion celebrating Mother’s Day. Shoppers will spend an average of $254.04 on mom.

Most consumers will give cards (74%) or flowers (74%) to their mothers in 2024. Special outings are also a popular gift (59%), according to the NRF.

According to the Insure.com 2023 Mother’s Day Index, the various tasks moms perform at home would be worth $133,440 a year in the professional world.

Anna Jarvis started the tradition of wearing a carnation on Mother’s Day. A colored carnation means that a person’s mother is living. A white carnation indicates that a person’s mother is deceased.

While many countries celebrate Mother’s Day on the second Sunday in May, a tradition which began in the United States, it’s celebrated annually on May 10 in Mexico. Similar celebrations of mothers are held on various days of the year in other countries, often following ancient or religious traditions.

In Britain and some parts of Europe, the fourth Sunday of Lent was often celebrated as Mothering Day, but that has been replaced by Mother’s Day, for the most part.

1872 – Julia Ward Howe, a pacifist, suffragette, and writer of the “Battle Hymn of the Republic,” first suggests Mother’s Day in the United States. She suggests the day as a day mothers could rally for peace and for several years, she holds an annual Mother’s Day meeting in Boston.

1908 – Anna Jarvis begins a campaign for a nationwide observance of Mother’s Day in honor of her late mother, a community health advocate. Anna Jarvis was deeply dismayed over the commercialization of Mother’s Day. Before she died in 1948, she admitted that she regretted ever starting the holiday.

May 9, 1914 – President Woodrow Wilson signs a bill recognizing Mother’s Day as a national holiday.

Here’s a look at the life of Associate Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan. She is the fourth woman to serve on the US Supreme Court.

Birth date: April 28, 1960

Birth place: New York, New York

Birth name: Elena Kagan

Father: Robert Kagan, attorney

Mother: Gloria (Gittelman) Kagan, teacher

Education: Princeton University, A.B., 1981, graduated summa cum laude; Worcester College, Oxford University, M. Phil., 1983; Harvard University, J.D., 1986, graduated magna cum laude

Religion: Jewish

Was editor of the Harvard Law Review.

First female dean of Harvard University Law School.

Nicknamed “Shorty” by Thurgood Marshall. He was 6’ 2”; she is 5’ 3”.

Taught at the University of Chicago Law School at the same time as future US President Barack Obama.

1986-1987 – Law clerk for Judge Abner Mikva, US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit.

1988 – Clerk for Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall.

1989-1991 – Associate with the DC law firm Williams & Connolly.

1991-1995 – University of Chicago Law School professor.

1993 – Senator Joe Biden appoints Kagan as the special counsel of the Senate Judiciary Committee. During this time Kagan works on Ruth Bader Ginsberg’s Supreme Court confirmation hearings.

1995-1996 – Associate counsel to US President Bill Clinton.

1997-1999 – Deputy assistant to President Clinton for domestic policy. Kagan is also deputy director of the Domestic Policy Council.

1999 – Clinton nominates Kagan to the US Court of Appeals. Hearings are never scheduled, and the nomination lapses.

1999-2003 – Harvard Law School professor.

April 3, 2003-March 20, 2009 – Dean of Harvard University Law School.

January 26, 2009 – Obama names Kagan to be US solicitor general.

March 19, 2009 – Confirmed by the US Senate 61-31 to become the first woman to serve as US solicitor general, despite opposition by over 75% of Republican senators.

May 10, 2010 – Obama nominates Kagan to be a justice on the US Supreme Court.

July 20, 2010 – The Senate Judiciary Committee votes 13-6 to send her nomination to the full Senate for consideration.

August 5, 2010 – The Senate confirms Kagan as an associate justice of the US Supreme Court.

August 7, 2010 – Kagan is sworn in as the 112th Supreme Court justice.

January 23, 2012 – The Supreme Court denies a request from Freedom Watch, a political advocacy group, that Kagan should recuse herself from the upcoming appeals over the constitutionality of health care reform. Kagan served as the Obama administration’s top government lawyer handling appeals to the Supreme Court when the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act was passed.

June 22, 2015 – The Supreme Court rules in favor of Marvel Entertainment against Stephen Kimble in a case that deals with patent fees. The opinion, written by Kagan, includes several references to Spider-Man.

March 7, 2019 – Kagan appears before House lawmakers to voice the court’s entrenched opposition to televising oral arguments. She acknowledges benefits to the public seeing the nation’s highest court at work, but tells a House Appropriations subcommittee that, “If seeing [the court] came at the expense of the way the institution functioned that would be a very bad bargain. And I do worry that cameras might come at that expense.”

June 21, 2019 – Kagan says that a 5-4 opinion that broke along ideological lines “smashes a hundred-plus years of legal rulings to smithereens.” The case addresses when property owners can sue the government to claim its actions are an unconstitutional “taking.” Under existing Supreme Court precedent, the plaintiff couldn’t sue to challenge the taking until the state was given a chance to pay just compensation. The new decision holds that the plaintiff can sue in federal court as soon as the taking occurs. In her dissent Kagan says, “when a theory requires declaring precedent after precedent after precedent wrong, that’s a sign the theory itself may be wrong.”

June 27, 2019 – Reads a dissent following the 5-4 decision that gerrymandering is beyond the reach of the court. “The practices challenged in these cases imperil our system of government. Part of the Court’s role in that system is to defend its foundations. None is more important than free and fair elections.”

October 8, 2020 – Kagan denies a request from Republicans to block Montana Governor Steve Bullock’s directive allowing counties to send mail-in ballots to all registered voters amidst the coronavirus pandemic.

September 22, 2023 – Kagan says she thinks it would be a “good thing” for the Supreme Court to adapt some version of a code of ethics that governs lower court judges and that she hopes the justices would make progress on the issue soon.