Thank you to the loyal readers and supporters of The Colorado Independent (2013-2020). The Indy has merged with the new nonprofit Colorado News Collaborative (COLab) on a new mission to strengthen local news in Colorado. We hope you will join us!
Eight months ago, President Obama nominated Indiana judge David Hamilton for a seat on the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. As Jeffrey Toobin reported, it was an uncontroversial, Republican-backed choice intended to “begin a profound and rapid change in the confirmation process and in the federal judiciary itself.”
Eight months later, Republicans are still filibustering Hamilton, having portrayed him as a judicial activist who may or may not be anti-Christianity. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) attacked Hamilton this week in a speech at the Federalist Society.
Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala.
Judge Hamilton’s record demonstrates an adherence to a liberal activist, not liberal — that’s not a problem with me or Democratic lawyers who’ve been active in — in Democratic or liberal politics. But the question for our confirmation always is, I think, for the Republican members on our side whether their personal political, ideological views will overcome their commitment to the law.
But I — but Hamilton’s record, I think, is troubling, as I’ve just indicated. He worked for ACORN, was a litigation director for the Indiana ACLU. He has endorsed the notion that a judge’s job is to, quote, “write footnotes to the Constitution.
Indeed, Hamilton worked for ACORN–for one month in 1979. This attack on him has really smacked of McCarthyism. RedState sums up the other attacks in a post encouraging readers to call the Senate to demand a filibuster, A vote was expected this week or early next week–since Hamilton has the support of Sen. Richard Lugar (R-Ind.), it’s worth watching if any Democrats join a filibuster of the nominee based on under-the-radar smears.
