Obama's First Appellate Court Nominee David Hamilton: ACLU Activist is NO "Moderate" - Statement from Wendy Long

November 7, 2009 | Filed In:
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
TUESDAY, MARCH 17, 2009
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT: MEGAN ERHARDT (703)-683-5004
Statement from Wendy Long

WASHINGTON, D.C. --- The Judicial Confirmation Network
(www.judicialnetwork.com) today reacted to President Obama's reported
plans to make his first nomination to the U.S. Court of Appeals this
week, Judge David Hamilton from Indiana:

"Judge Hamilton is no 'moderate,' as the Obama White House is trying to
spin him. The fact is, he was vice-president for litigation and a board
member of the Indiana chapter of the ACLU, and he appears to have made
rulings that show his willingness to bend the law to reach outcomes
favored by his ACLU allies, which are inconsistent with the proper role
of a judge under our Constitution but which fit the pattern of ruling
based upon 'heart' and 'empathy' for certain classes of litigants,
which then-candidate Barack Obama said he would be looking for in
judges during the campaign. The problem is, judges cannot rule on that
basis; their job is to apply the law impartially and not favor certain
types of litigants before the court.

"Hamilton has a pretty clear leftist political record and was rated
'not qualified' by the ABA when President Clinton nominated him to the
federal bench because his experience at that time was almost purely
political, as opposed to legal and judicial. We need to read his
decisions carefully to make definitive pronouncements, but it's clear
that at least some of his work on the bench demonstrates his
willingness to embrace judicial activism.

"For example, Hamilton prevented the state of Indiana from implementing
an abortion law that was substantially the same as the one the Supreme
Court upheld in the Casey decision. He was reversed by the 7th Circuit
(the court on which he has now been nominated to sit), which noted: 'No
court anywhere in the country (other than one district judge in
Indiana) has held any similar law invalid in the years since Casey.'"

For more information, and to schedule an interview with Ms. Long, contact Megan Erhardt at (703)-683-5004.