Obama Names Indiana’s Hamilton as First Judicial Pick /
By Greg Stohr
March 17 (Bloomberg) -- President Barack Obama nominated David Hamilton, an Indiana federal district judge with bipartisan support, for a U.S. appeals court seat in the new administration’s first judicial appointment.
Hamilton, 51, a former aide to then-Governor Evan Bayh of Indiana, is a 15-year veteran of the federal trial court in Indianapolis. He has backing from Bayh, now a Democratic U.S. senator, and Richard Lugar, Indiana’s Republican senator, the White House said. If confirmed by the Senate, Hamilton would serve on the Chicago-based 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
“Judge Hamilton has a long and impressive record of service and a history of handing down fair and judicious decisions,” Obama said in a statement. “He will be a thoughtful and distinguished addition to the 7th Circuit.”
The selection is the first concrete sign of how Obama might reshape a federal court system that now has three Republican appointees for every two Democratic nominees. The vacancy that Hamilton would fill is one of 15 at the federal appeals court level. The president also may have multiple Supreme Court openings to fill in the next four years.
A senior administration official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, pointed to Hamilton’s appointment as a signal that the Obama administration was looking to reduce the level of controversy over judicial nominations. Still, interest-group reaction to Hamilton’s nomination suggested that the feuding was far from over.
‘Radical Side’
Hamilton’s selection “indicates that we will see the more radical side of Obama when it comes to judicial nominations,” said Curt Levey, executive director of the Committee for Justice, which advocates for conservative judges.
Hamilton last year struck down a state law that required convicted sex offenders to submit to searches of their personal computers. In 2005 he ordered that the prayers used to open state legislative sessions be nondenominational.
Kathryn Kolbert, president of the liberal People for the American Way, called Hamilton “an extraordinarily good judge” and “an excellent first choice.”
Obama will nominate judicial candidates after an evaluation of their credentials by the American Bar Association, the White House official said. That marks a resumption of the role the ABA played from the 1950s to 2001.
President George W. Bush’s administration ended the group’s role, pointing to the ABA’s call for a death penalty moratorium and its support for abortion rights.
Hamilton, a graduate of Haverford College and Yale Law School, was appointed to the federal trial court in 1994 by President Bill Clinton. A Fulbright scholar, he is the son and grandson of Methodist ministers and is the nephew of former Democratic Representative Lee Hamilton of Indiana.
Lugar said Judge Hamilton had served “with distinction” as a federal trial judge in Indianapolis.
Bayh called Hamilton “an exceptional jurist who has demonstrated the highest ethical standards and a firm commitment to applying our country’s laws fairly.”
To contact the reporter on this story: Greg Stohr in Washington at gstohr@bloomberg.net.
Last Updated: March 17, 2009 13:47 EDT |
