President Obama nominated solicitor general Elena Kagan to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens earlier this month.  Kagan, despite her lack of judicial experience, is what the Supreme Court needs to be: more ideologically moderate.

Obama chose Kagan to bring balance to the court. Her more liberal views will offset the conservative justices and keep the Supreme Court in a more moderate state. She will replace the court’s liberal leader, Stevens, and counterweight conservative leader Justice Antonin Scalia.

Kagan’s past experiences demonstrate her ability to judge the facts without personal bias. Kagan worked as a White House lawyer and domestic policy aide where she battled for anti-smoking legislation against the tobacco companies, even though she smoked for 17 years. Kagan took authority of an administration panel on federal regulation of cigarettes and fought for Congress to enact the legislation.

Kagan’s other strength lies in her ability to solve issues based purely on the law, not her ideologies, Bruce Reed, her former White House boss, told the New York Times. She will keep her own personal views and beliefs away from her decision making and balance all the other views of the court.

While Kagan may not have much judging experience, she is able to dissect the law to decide potential cases, according to the Washington Post. She was chosen as solicitor general without any previous appellate experience in the Supreme Court, and has proven herself capable of handling the position. She will bring the same fresh view to the court as a justice that she did as the solicitor general.

If confirmed, Kagan will be the youngest justice currently on the Supreme Court. Since these justices serve a life term, Kagan would be able to build a long lasting impact on the court.