The American Bar Association, in an expected step, today gave Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan its top rating of unanimously well qualified as the Senate Judiciary Committee prepares to start its hearing on Kagan's nomination Monday.

"This peer-reviewed evaluation of the nominee's integrity, professional competence and temperament is further evidence of Elena Kagan's qualifications to serve as an independent justice on the Supreme Court," said Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt.

The rating comes as Republicans continue their efforts to paint Kagan as a judicial activist whose political views would overwhelm objective assessment of legal issues. Former Judiciary Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, today cited examples from Kagan's career he said "indicate that for most of her career, Ms. Kagan has endorsed, and has praised others who endorse, an activist judicial philosophy."