For what has now become a much anticipated annual tradition, the Center for the Constitution and the Catholic Intellectual Tradition (CIT) hosted a conversation with a Supreme Court Justice. This year, on Tuesday, October 20, 2026, CIT welcomed Justice Elena Kagan to address faculty, students, and alumni of the Columbus School of Law. The conversation was moderated by CIT Director J. Joel Alicea.
The event opened with a prayer led by University Chaplain Rev. Aquinas Guilbeau, followed by a formal welcome from Dean Stephen C. Payne. Dean Payne thanked the CIT for its contribution to the ascent of Catholic Law and welcomed Justice Kagan to campus for the first time, remarking that with her visit—the fifth by a sitting justice—Catholic Law now enjoys a “majority” on the Court.
Prof. Alicea then introduced Justice Kagan, noting two distinct qualities of the Justice. First, her exemplary oral argument questioning, which demonstrates complete command of all material and yields “respectful, insightful and often devastating questions.” Second, her clear and concise prose, which consistently confronts the majority opinion with powerful arguments in her dissents. Justice Kagan reciprocated by praising the oral argument questioning of Justice Samuel A. Alito, Jr., for whom Prof. Alicea clerked.
The conversation went on to explore overarching themes of the Justice’s jurisprudence, spanning election law, administrative law, the separation of powers, and religious liberty. Justice Kagan addressed each topic with humor, candor, and a keen focus on how the law impacts the American public. She characterized election law as “just about the most important thing the Court does” because it ensures citizens the right through which they protect all their other rights: the right to vote. Justice Kagan was critical of some of the Court’s recent voting-rights-related decisions for, in her view, not appreciating the consequences of the Court’s actions.
In describing her own jurisprudence, Justice Kagan emphasized a common-law approach to constitutional interpretation. This method, she explained, ensures the law evolves predictably and incrementally, values she finds crucial to the stability of the legal system. She also described the precedent system as “a system of humility,” preserving and transmitting the “wisdom of the ages.” In the course of discussing her approach to constitutional interpretation, Justice Kagan and Prof. Alicea–an originalist scholar–engaged in a respectful and good-natured back-and-forth on the pros and cons of originalism.
Finally, Justice Kagan spoke on religious liberty, which she described as the fundamental belief that “no matter how we think about religion, no matter how we pray, we are a single national community.” This, she said, continues to be the dominant message of the 1st Amendment. In closing, the Justice was asked about the role religion played in her own upbringing and then her adult life. With characteristic concision, she began her answer simply: “Important and important.”
