Judge David Hamilton

One of my Senators, Sen. Kay Hagan, has already e-mailed me that she intends to vote for the confirmation to the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, Judge David Hamilton. I haven't figured out how to put the entire e-mail up, so I will quote the relevant part:

Judge Hamilton was appointed to the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana in 1994, and he was named Chief Judge of the court in 2008. He has served with distinction, leading the American Bar Association to unanimously rate him as well-qualified, which is the highest rating given by this non-partisan group. Given Judge Hamilton's extensive legal experience, impressive background, and reputation as a moderate, I expect to support his nomination once it reaches the Senate floor. He has already been enthusiastically endorsed by both Senators from his home state of Indiana, Senators Richard Lugar (R) and Evan Bayh (D), and I expect his nomination to be further supported by a bipartisan majority of Senators.

I do not wish to fisk that little paragraph of...um...nuanced viewpoints. So, I'll just say that I am sure that Hagan is aware of the issues surrounding Judge Hamilton, but in case she isn't, some of them are outlined in Mario Diaz piece on Townhall.com today entitled Like a Blind Man in the Watch Tower. A quote from Diaz article:

Hamilton also issued a series of rulings for over seven years that prevented the state of Indiana from enforcing its informed-consent law. Yet, while that law was virtually identical to a Pennsylvania statute the Supreme Court had already upheld in an earlier case, Judge Hamilton ignored the precedent in order to advance his biased personal views. But that’s not news.

Even before being a judge, Hamilton had shown his true activist colors as a board member of the Indiana chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and as a fundraiser for the discredited liberal activist group ACORN.

So, Obama wants to turn the Seventh District into something of a Ninth District. The Ninth has the reputation for being the most overturned District Court. Nice.

Then there is this warning from the Gun Owners of America:

Of course, we have seen this pattern time and time again. Judges ignore the clear wording of the Constitution -- in essence, amending the Constitution through each new case they decide.

The courts then become the vehicle for rewriting the Second Amendment!

Not surprisingly, Judge Hamilton's politics are to the extreme, far left. He spent a brief stint as a fundraiser for ACORN, the organization that was an aggressive supporter of Barack Obama in the presidential election. In addition to all the evils surrounding ACORN is the fact that the organization has lobbied against Second Amendment rights -- as seen by the New Jersey chapter supporting a one-gun-a-month ordinance in Jersey City.

I would add that this year, the NC ACORN chapter (see here) supported a bill to require people to get a permit from the Sheriff each and every time they wanted to purchase ammunition.

I would have expected a lively debate, on the order of, oh...say...Robert Bork, to ensue. There is that much smoke and flame around this candidate. This man is not even in the, what is euphemistically called the "mainstream" of legal thinking. That it doesn't appear to be in the cards is appalling.

Once again, dear reader, into the breech! If you haven't contacted your Senator, do so now. Make sure they know you are watching.