WASHINGTON :  US Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan vowed at her first confirmation hearing Monday to be an impartial justice and seemed on track to become the fourth woman ever to sit on the history-shaping bench.

"I will work hard, and I will do my best to consider every case impartially, modestly, with commitment to principle and in accordance with law," Kagan told the Senate Judiciary Committee in her opening statement.

Amid bitter "war on terrorism" debates pitting security concerns against civil liberties, Kagan said the highest US court must ensure "that our government never oversteps its proper bounds or violates the rights of individuals" but must also know its "limits" and respect the Congress`s will.

Kagan, who as US solicitor general has represented President Barack Obama`s administration before the justices, sat quietly, often with a slightly pained expression on her face, through hours of Republican assaults on her record.

The committee`s top Republican, Jeff Sessions, noted that Kagan would be the first non-judge to reach the summit of US justice in nearly 40 years and charged her "career has been consumed more by politics than law."

"This worries many Americans," he said, questioning whether she would be able to set aside politics and rule impartially from the bench.

Kagan, 50, was expected barring a dramatic development to win confirmation as one of the nine judges whose rulings on divisive issues including abortion, gun rights, and racial segregation have shaped the very fabric of US society.

"Something tells me this is likely to be your last confirmation hearing," Republican Senator Orrin Hatch said shortly after proceedings opened in the crowded committee room.

Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy, the panel`s chairman, declared Kagan`s legal qualifications "unassailable" and said "there is no basis to question her integrity."

Naming US Supreme Court justices ranks among the most consequential powers of the US presidency, as a judge`s lifetime tenure typically stretches well beyond the influence of the temporary occupant of the White House.

The justices serve as the final arbiters of the US Constitution, setting precedents for the entire US judicial system and adjudicating bitter political disputes often in narrow 5-4 rulings that can take a lifetime to reverse.

Some of their most controversial recent decisions have included the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that legalized abortion in the United States and the Bush v. Gore decision that ended the disputed 2000 election in George W. Bush`s favor.

Looming November mid-term elections have fueled bitter political tensions in the high-stakes battle over Kagan, who would be the youngest justice, and Republicans have refused to rule out trying to block a confirmation vote.

"Your relatively thin record clearly shows that you`ve been a political lawyer," said Republican Senator Charles Grassley.

Democrats and their two independent allies control 58 Senate seats, well over the 50 needed to confirm Kagan, but shy of the 60 votes needed to end debate and proceed to a final confirmation ballot.

Obama, who has dismissed the case against her as "pretty thin gruel," met with Kagan in his Oval Office Monday morning to "offer his encouragement and wish her good luck," said a White House official.

The White House and its Democratic allies have said they would like to see Kagan confirmed as liberal standard bearer John Paul Stevens`s replacement before the month-long August recess, in time for the court`s fall session.

Kagan -- who received the American Bar Association`s highest rating of unanimously well qualified for the court -- would be the second justice named by Obama after Sonia Sotomayor, the first Hispanic to reach the bench.

A 1981 graduate of Princeton University, Kagan completed her studies at Harvard in 1986. She clerked for Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall before entering private practice from 1989 to 1991.

She and Obama both taught law in Chicago, and Kagan worked in former US president Bill Clinton`s administration.

BDST 0847 HRS, June 29, 2010

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