Worries about Justice Kagan's recusals unfounded...so far

By Kimberly Atkins Dolan Media Newswires BOSTON, MA--The prognosticators were worried at the beginning of the Supreme Court's term. The Court's newest member, Justice Elena Kagan, was fresh from the solicitor general's office, meaning she would have to recuse herself from any case she had a role in litigating. That set up a troublesome scenario: scores of cases could end in 4-4 splits, rendering the Supreme Court powerless to do anything other than affirm the lower court rulings by default. But guess what. It didn't happen. In the 19 cases decided by the Court so far without Kagan's participation, only one ended in a tie, the Associated Press reports. And in each of the other 18 cases, the vote wasn't close enough to make Kagan's absence of any consequence. That is not to say that Kagan's participation or absence from a case won't be a key factor in the future. It is unclear whether she will participate when challenges to the nation's health care law reach the high court (although we could hazard a guess), or whether she will sit in when the challenge to California's gay marriage ban reaches the justices. Entire contents copyrighted © 2011 by Dolan Media Company. Published: Thu, May 5, 2011