LEXINGTON, Ky. — Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan says her hunting outings with fellow Justice Antonin Scalia began with an offhand promise during her Senate confirmation.
Kagan told a University of Kentucky audience Thursday night that she took up the pastime after a meeting with a senator. He asked if she had ever hunted or fired a gun. She never had, so she told the senator she’d like to accompany him on a hunting trip. Kagan says the look on his face was “total horror.”
She promised to ask Scalia – an avid hunter – to take her hunting if she won confirmation.
After joining the court, she recounted the story to Scalia.
They started shooting together – first clay pigeons and then actual quail, pheasant and antelope.
Kagan, a member of the court’s liberal wing, says she enjoys hunting and spending time with Scalia, a conservative.