Reports try to flesh out Kagan's views

WASHINGTON, May 14 (UPI) -- As U.S. Supreme Court justice nominee Elena Kagan prepares her confirmation hearing, efforts are under way to flesh out what is known about her views.

The Wall Street Journal reported Friday Kagan, now the U.S. solicitor general, once wrote a note that appears to favor allowing funding for religious groups despite the Justice Department's constitutional concerns. At the time, she was an aide to President Bill Clinton.

The short note, released this week by the Clinton Library in Little Rock, Ark., was written on the bottom of a magazine article. It's unclear why Kagan opposed the Justice Department's proposed changes and White House officials, the Journal said, point out the limited context of the note.

"It's really hard to read a lot onto a sticky note on an article. There could be a lot going on," the Journal quoted an unnamed Obama administration official as saying.

The Journal also said Kagan, as a Supreme Court clerk in the late 1980s, once argued religious organizations should be barred from taking part in some federal programs, a position she roundly rejected during her confirmation hearing to be solicitor general.

Fox News reported Kagan, also back when she was on Clinton's staff, had expressed concern about a proposal to use the Supreme Court to demonstrate the president's commitment to racial diversity.

In another instance, while helping on a manuscript for a Clinton book on race relations, she advised against including language that racism was often the motivation for urban police stopping and searching minorities.

The network said it obtained about 300 documents dealing with Kagan from the Clinton Library.

President Barack Obama has made Kagan, 50, his choice to replace retiring Justice John Paul Stevens on the high court. The Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a confirmation hearing this summer. The full Senate would then vote on her nomination if the panel forwards it.