Leahy signals BP will play central role in Kagan hearings

“Turning
back the award in the Exxon-Valdez, I wonder if the Supreme Court would
do that today as they watch what’s happening in the Gulf,” Leahy said
on C-SPAN’s “Newsmakers” program, to air this weekend.

“It
wasn’t the liberals who said that Exxon shouldn’t have to pay the
amount that a jury gave the people of Alaska for their oil spill,” the
Vermont senator added later, critiquing conservative judges’ decisions
in some cases.

Confirmation hearings are set to begin June 28th,
and Democrats have said they hope to move to confirm Kagan before the
Senate breaks for the August recess.

Leahy said a big area for
exploration would be the Supreme Court’s decision in Citizens United v.
FEC, a decision which opened the door for more corporate and labor
spending in elections.

“You had British Petroleum, if they
wanted, saying some of these members of Congress are too tough on us
and asking questions, so we will spend millions of dollars to elect
somebody who will say we’re doing the right thing,” Leahy argued. “Now
I don’t think that’s going to happen, but under what the Supreme Court
said, that could happen.”

Among other areas of interest for
senators, Leahy said, might also be the lawsuits Republican state
attorneys general have filed to challenge the healthcare reform law
passed by Democrats earlier this year.