Newswise — The Senate Judiciary Committee begins hearings into the confirmation of Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan on Monday, June 28. Faculty from the University of Maryland School of Law will be available to comment on the hearings, and on what Kagan’s confirmation (or rejection) might mean.

Prof. Paula Monopoli, the founding director of the Women, Leadership & Equality Program at the School, can discuss the Kagan nomination in context of women in the federal judiciary, the impact of a critical mass of women on the bench, and research on women attorneys and the impact of marriage/motherhood on their professional aspirations and achievements.

Prof. Mark Graber, one of the country’s foremost constitutional law and politics scholars, has written extensively about the high court. His books include explorations of free speech, abortion, and “Dred Scott and the Problem of Constitutional Evil.” Graber, who is being elevated to associate dean, can discuss the Kagan nomination in its political context and legal history.

Prof. Sherrilyn Ifill is a nationally recognized authority on civil rights, judicial diversity and judicial decision-making, and particularly on Supreme Court confirmation hearings. She has addressed these topics on national news broadcasts, and in her columns in national online publications The Root and POLITICO. She is currently completing work on her forthcoming book, “WISE LATINAS, BLACK RACONTEURS AND WHITE UMPIRES: HOW SUPREME COURT CONFIRMATION HEARINGS SHAPE OUR VIEWS ABOUT RACE, GENDER AND JUDGING.”