One Supreme Court justice has been playing a prominent role in the Elena Kagan confirmation hearings, and he died 17 years ago: her mentor, Thurgood Marshall.

Kagan served as a law clerk for the jurist. On the first day of confirmation hearings for Kagan, Marshall's name came up more than 30 times.

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Many African-Americans "think of Thurgood Marshall as being an even more important figure than the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.," says David Bositis, an expert on African-American voters and politicians at the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies."

Bositis has a hard time understanding why Republicans would paint Marshall as the enemy.

Even some conservatives share this view.

"I cannot imagine who mobilized this," says Michael Greve, a scholar with the American Enterprise Institute. "It makes your jaw drop. At least mine," says Greve, who adds that Kagan has such a slim record that Republicans have decided to go after her mentors instead.

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