(NECN: Washington) - In an exchange with Republican Senator Jeff Sessions on the second day of confirmation hearings, Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan called the Constitution a living document, saying its framers wrote it to last through ever-changing circumstances.
Her remarks touched on suggestions by Republican critics that she would legislate from the bench.
"The Constitution is an enduring documents. The Constitution does not change except by the amendment process. The Constitution does over time, where courts are asked to think about how it applies to new sets of circumstances, and in applying the Constitution case by case...the Constitutional law that we live under does develop over time," said Kagan.
"My politics would be, must be, have to be, completely separate from my judgment," said Kagan.
Sessions questions Kagan as to whether should would or would not label herself as a "legal progressive."
Politics
"I don't know what that label means, so I guess I am not going to characterize it one way or another," said Kagan.
