On Friday, the U.S. Senate confirmed
Elena Kagan as the nation's first female Solicitor General, "a position
informally regarded as the 10th Supreme Court justice and, for her, a
possible audition for a spot in the starting nine," the AP reports.
Kagan "is widely regarded as a serious candidate for any opening on the
high court that would be filled by President Barack Obama, her former
University of Chicago Law School teaching colleague. Justices John Paul
Stevens, 88, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, 76, and David Souter, 69, are
considered the most likely to retire during Obama's presidency."