Supreme Court Justices Still Don't Quite Grasp Email

Just the folks we need deciding 21st-century privacy issues

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Elena Kagan says she and her fellow Supreme Court justices aren't the most tech savvy group of people and still communicate with each other the same way they did when she was a clerk in 1987: with paper memos.

In an appearance in Providence on Tuesday, Kagan acknowledged the justices have a ways to go to understand technologies such as Facebook, Twitter and even email.

"It's a challenge for us," Kagan said, while also noting that she herself uses email, goes online and reads blogs.

Kagan, 53, was appointed to the court in 2010 by President Barack Obama. She previously served as solicitor general of the United States and dean of Harvard Law School, among other accomplishments. She is the youngest justice and the one most recently appointed to the court.