Gavel Grab

President Obama has named U.S. District Court Judge David Hamilton as his pick to fill a vacancy on the Chicago-based 7th Circuit Court of Appeals. Judge Hamilton has served on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana since his appointment to the bench by President Clinton in 1994.

The Obama administration claims that Judge Hamilton’s nomination signals a retreat from the partisanship and contentiousness that has marred judicial nominations in recent years. An administration spokesperson stated, “We would like to put the history of the confirmation wars behind us.”

The partisan battles are not over yet. Two  conservative groups,  the Judicial Confirmation Network and the Committee for Justice, criticized Obama’s pick. “Judge Hamilton is no ‘moderate,’ as the Obama White House is trying to spin him,” said Wendy Long, president of the Judicial Confirmation Network, pointing to Judge Hamilton’s prior membership on the board of the Indiana chapter of the ACLU.

But other conservatives praised Hamilton. Said attorney Geoffrey Slaughter, president of the Federalist Society in Indiana, “I regard Judge Hamilton as an excellent jurist with a first-rate intellect.”

And Judge Hamilton enjoys bipartisan support from both Sen. Richard G. Lugar (R-Ind.), who has said that he “enthusiastically supports” Judge Hamilton’s nomination, and Sen. Evan Bayh (D-Ind.), for whom Hamilton served as counsel when Bayh was governor of Indiana. In a press release, Sen. Bayh praised Judge Hamilton, and President Obama for his choice:

“The process for confirming judicial nominees has become too partisan in recent years, which is why I am so encouraged by the president’s decision to make David Hamilton his first judicial appointment. I was proud to work with Senator Lugar to recommend Judge Hamilton for this lifetime appointment. President Obama is right that Democrats and Republicans can work together to put highly qualified jurists on the federal bench.”

The Obama administration has also requested that the American Bar Association’s Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary resume its historical practice of evaluating federal judicial nominees, a role that the ABA played for more than 50 years before the practice was discontinued by the Bush administration. Judge Hamilton has received a unanimous rating of “well-qualified” by the ABA. In contrast, a majority of the committee found Judge Hamilton to be “not qualified” when he was nominated by President Clinton in 1994, citing his lack of trial experience and limited years in practice.

Since taking the bench, Judge Hamilton has impressed court watchers in Indiana. “He is someone who takes his job very seriously. He works extremely hard,” said Justice at Stake Board Member Charlie Geyh, a Professor at Indiana University’s School of Law. “He’s impressed me as engaged by ideas, engaged by good judicial administration, and so is someone I feel very comfortable saying has the demeanor and temperament and skills to be an excellent judge.”

Tags: 7th District Court of Appeals, AC:U, Evan Bayh, Federal Court Nominations, Judge David F. Hamilton, Judicial Confirmation Network, Obama, Richard Lugar