Let's put to rest some of the derogatory things that are being said.
The Thurgood Marshall memo:
Sandidge v. United States.
The lower court ruling in the 1987 case, issued by the District of Columbia’s highest court, said the Second Amendment protects only the rights of states to raise militias, and not individual gun rights. The ruling upheld Lee Sandidge’s conviction for carrying a pistol without a license, possession of an unregistered firearm and unlawful possession of ammunition. The SCOTUS, at that time, would most likely have agreed with the D.C. Circuit and
Heller would have been a non-starter.
Whatever she really meant with that memo, turned out to be good for us.
I would sincerely hope that Kagan took from Marshall, his dedication to civil rights and his ferver in limiting the scope of the governments police power as regards 4A rights.
The Clinton Papers: Just what do you expect to see, assuming arguendo that the Clinton files are released, other than a person who did the job they were hired to do?
Would you actually find fault in a person who did what the boss told them to do, when what they were doing was not unethical or unlawful?
Give me an argument from her work, that is, this was how she privately thought, as opposed to she did the job that she was hired to do.
The other possible nominees.
We can look at the type of decisions handed down by Garland and Wood. I could be wrong, but I doubt their judicial reasonings would change much. Given that reasoning, they would be horrible for future 2A cases, even if still on the minority side.
The other thing about these two jurists; Because of their judicial experience, they may find an easier time of persuading Justice Kennedy to their side. That would be disastrous.
Then there is Janet Napolitano. She is a died in the wool progressive. Her views on certain issues are an open book to anyone who has followed her career in Arizona.
Of all the names on the "short list," Elena Kagan
is the best we could hope for.
Do not take the above as an endorsement of Kagan. It isn't. It is a rational look at the possibilities.