Yesterday’s exchange between Elena Kagan and Sen. Tom Coburn did a fair amount to illuminate how Kagan would likely think and rule on the Court. 

Discussing the appropriateness, or lack thereof, of using the laws of foreign nations as guides to construe the text of the United States Constitution, Sen. Coburn noted that Kagan had sent a letter (written just over a year ago) to Sen. Arlen Specter, in which she had stated, “There are some circumstances in which it may be proper for judges to consider foreign law sources in ruling on constitutional questions.”  As Coburn held the quote up on a large poster-board for all to see, Kagan responded by referring to her role as solicitor general (to which Coburn had also referred) and to the questions she had faced at that time, replying,