Thurgood Marshall Fund Defends Elena Kagan

Some conservative groups are attacking Elena Kagan, the Supreme Court nominee, for her ties to Thurgood Marshall, for whom she was a law clerk on the Supreme Court. Among those defending Kagan is the Thurgood Marshall Scholarship Fund, which raises money for scholarships for students at public historically black colleges. Johnny C. Taylor, president and CEO of the fund, issued this statement: "We, at the Thurgood Marshall College Fund, are extremely supportive of Ms. Kagan’s nomination for a number of reasons; but two stand out as particularly meaningful – she served as a law clerk to Justice Marshall and she served on the Board of Directors of the college fund bearing Justice Marshall’s name. Ms. Kagan’s career has embodied the meaning and tradition of Thurgood Marshall’s life’s work to support the Constitutional mandate of inclusion and equal protection under the law for all Americans, particularly in higher education.”