Supreme Court Candidates, 2010

U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens, the only decorated veteran on the U.S. Supreme Court, has announced his resignation and thereby created an election year vacancy.

Here are leading contenders to be nominated to fill his seat, with an analysis of each.

Elena Kagan

Elena Kagan is currently Solicitor General of the United States, confirmed in 2009 by a vote of 61-31. She was born in 1960.

Elena Kagan served as Dean of Harvard Law School, where she supported a censorship and banning of participation by the United States Armed Forces in recruitment that is made available to hundreds of other employers. She signed onto a law brief in 2004 urging the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn the Solomon Amendment, which placed as a condition of receipt of federal funds by institutions (including Harvard Law School) that they not discriminate against recruitment by the U.S. Armed Forces. Rumsfeld v. FAIR, Docket No. 04-1152, 2004 U.S. Briefs 1152. The U.S. Supreme Court rejected her argument by a vote of 8-0. But Harvard University continues to ban ROTC to this day.

Elena Kagan testified, at her confirmation hearing for the position of Solicitor General, in favor of the use of foreign law to interpret the U.S. Constitution.

Elena Kagan's "senior thesis at Princeton raises some eyebrows, in that it apparently laments the non-existence of a viable socialist movement in the U.S."

Elena Kagan's first oral argument before the U.S. Supreme Court was defending the federal campaign finance law in Citizens United v. FEC. The Court rejected her argument and invalidated the law as unconstitutional.

Diane Wood

Diane Wood is a judge on the Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. Born in 1950, she is a former clerk of Justice Harry Blackmun, the author of Roe v. Wade.

In a decision reversed by the U.S. Supreme Court, Diane Wood held that activities protesting abortion clinics constituted illegal racketeering, subjecting pro-lifers to the very harsh penalties designed to combat organized crime. National Organization for Women v. Scheidler, 267 F.3d 687 (7th Cir. 2001), rev'd, 537 U.S. 393 (2003). She is probably the candidate most favored by pro-abortion groups.

Diane Wood ruled against the Second Amendment, to the consternation of gun rights advocates, in Justice v. Town of Cicero, 577 F.3d 768 (7th Cir., Aug. 14, 2009):

Judge Wood upheld the handgun registration ordinance of Cicero, Illinois. The opinion accurately explained that under the then-current law of the Circuit, the Second Amendment was not incorporated in the Fourteenth. Surprisingly, Judge Wood then asserted that even if the Second Amendment were incorporated, the registration requirement is constitutional. ... Accordingly, it is plausible to infer from her unreasoned opinion a disregard for Second Amendment rights.

Merrick Garland

Merrick Garland is a judge on the Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. He did a Supreme Court clerkship with the liberal Justice William Brennan. He was born in 1952.

Conservative Senator Trent Lott led a floor fight to oppose Garland's nomination to the D.C. Circuit in 1997, and 23 senators voted against his confirmation.

Merrick Garland has reportedly ruled or made statements against Second Amendment rights.