Washington ? Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan is known to be circumspect with her personal views and has a limited public record on some of the hot-button social issues that have dominated past confirmation hearings. The issues:

Don’t ask, don’t tell

Conservatives have said the most controversial issue in her past was her belief that the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy meant Harvard Law School would be violating its anti-discrimination policy if it helped the military recruit on campus.

Hate speech

In a 1993 article in the University of Chicago Law Review, Kagan wrote, “I take it as a given that we live in a society marred by racial and gender inequality, that certain forms of speech perpetuate and promote this inequality, and that the uncoerced disappearance of such speech would be cause for great elation. I do not take it as a given that all governmental efforts to regulate such speech thus accord with the Constitution.”

Abortion

As a White House adviser in 1997, Kagan urged then-President Bill Clinton to support a ban on late-term abortions.

Documents reviewed Monday by The Associated Press show Kagan encouraging Clinton to support a compromise bill that would have banned all abortions of viable fetuses except when the health of the mother was at risk.

Confirmation hearings

In a 1995 book review, Kagan encouraged senators to be more firm with those who wanted a spot on the court. However, Republican senators at her own confirmation for solicitor general said Kagan did not live up to her own standards. “I am … less convinced than I was in 1995 that substantive discussions of legal issues and views, in the context of nomination hearings, provide the great public benefits I suggested,” she said during that hearing.

Personal values

In her Q&A for solicitor general, Kagan said a judge should “try to the greatest extent possible to separate constitutional interpretation from his or her own values and beliefs.”

Gun control

After District of Columbia v. Heller, Kagan said “there is no question that the Second Amendment guarantees individuals the right to keep and bear arms and that this right, like others in the Constitution, provides strong although not unlimited protection against governmental regulation.”

Due process

During her confirmation hearing, Kagan agreed with Republican senators that the country was at war and said she did not believe detainees held in Afghanistan had the right to due process, as the Supreme Court has ruled for those at Guantanamo Bay.

Same-sex marriage

Noting that as solicitor general Kagan would be charged with defending the 1996 marriage law, Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, asked in a written question to Kagan whether she believes in a constitutional right to same-sex marriage. “There is no federal constitutional right to same-sex marriage,” Kagan responded.