Obama Taps Moderate Judge, Brings ABA Back Into Fold

By: Brian Montopoli
Topics: Domestic Issues

(AP)

President Obama today announced that he is nominating moderate U.S. District Judge David Hamilton to the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago.

Hamilton has been a federal district judge in Indiana for the past 14 years; the president said in a statement that he "has a long and impressive record of service and a history of handing down fair and judicious decisions."

Mr. Obama is looking for nominees unlikely to drum up partisan divisions in the Senate, according to a senior White House official who spoke to the Associated Press. Early indications are that Hamilton fits the bill; the AP reports that Republican Indiana Senator Richard Lugar supports the nominee.

An administration official told the New York Times that "part of the reason for making the Hamilton nomination the administration's first public entry into the often contentious field of judicial selection was to serve 'as a kind of signal' about the kind of nominees Mr. Obama will select."

An interesting legal note: The American Bar Association today announced that "the Obama Administration has requested that the [ABA] Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary resume its historical role in evaluating the professional qualifications of potential federal judicial nominees on a pre-nomination basis."

In other words, the ABA will again be participating in vetting judicial candidates – a practice that was halted by the Bush Administration, which alleged that the group was using its involvement in the process for political showboating.

"The ABA's renewed involvement in this process is a good thing," said CBS News Chief Legal Analyst and Legal Editor Andrew Cohen. "Lawyers are almost always in the best position to evaluate their own. The ABA 'peer review' can help an administration avoid some candidates who may, at first glance, appear attractive but who are ultimately ill-suited for the bench because of poor temperament, bad judgment, inexperience, or beyond-the-mainstream jurisprudence."

"A good ABA rating, on the other hand, reassures executive branch officials and U.S. Senators that the judicial candidate they are nominating and voting upon is likely to serve with fidelity to the Constitution, and to the broad range of acceptable legal norms, upon taking the bench," he added.

"The ABA recommendations are just that — guidelines designed to inform government choices about federal judges," Cohen continued. "They have been sorely missed over the past few years and are likely to help us get judges who are more professional and competent."

"And that's especially important because of the third bit of news this Tuesday; the government announced that the workload for federal judges is high and getting higher," he said. "The administration, therefore, must do more to break the logjam of judicial nominations that reached a nadir during the last few years of the Bush White House. The ABA's return to the process can only help make that happen."

Brian Montopoli
Brian Montopoli is the senior political reporter at CBSNews.com.
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by marcodele March 17, 2009 4:37 PM EDT: Yes Dante. It's a all a big liberal democrat liberal media conspiracy to fill the U.S. with child predators.

Rush told me so.; Reply to this comment


by dante805 March 17, 2009 4:21 PM EDT: OK, with 5 minutes of digging, we see we cant take CBS headline of MODERATE to be serious. This judge is a former ACLU chapter President and did fundraising for ACORN. He also ruled against Indiana Sexual Preadator registration law. Seems like the mainstream media is trying to paint a rosy picture for the public.; Reply to this comment


by dante805 March 17, 2009 4:15 PM EDT: What has this judge ruled on of consquence? Any thing to back up his previous NOT qualified rating by ABA? If Obama is nominating him he can't be too moderate. Lugar's approval is nothing to crow about.; Reply to this comment


by Bingo_Long_III March 17, 2009 3:47 PM EDT: Get your facts straight, sourpusses, and put brain in gear before engaging mouth. The ABA "not qualified" label is from the 1990s, originating in a lack of trial experience in a man then a decade or so younger. It's now 2008, and he's got plenty of experience. You're just sad the fascists are no longer in power.; Reply to this comment


by briannorwood March 17, 2009 3:47 PM EDT: An interesting legal note: The American Bar Association today announced that ?the Obama Administration has requested that the [ABA] Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary resume its historical role in evaluating the professional qualifications of potential federal judicial nominees on a pre-nomination basis.?

---

How refreshing!; Reply to this comment


by rex1943 March 17, 2009 3:46 PM EDT: Well, here we go again. Typical hate filled, ill informed, partisan hacks wanting to display the reason this country is going down the tubes. I looked for some inkling of truth in "Defend Liberty, and bradkt1" but...It just "ain't " there. Maybe you could double your lithium, or prozac dosages. I know, I know..it's a waste to try and refute such liberal garbage, but it's fun "pissing" of idiots sometimes. Especially when you can hide behind a computer incognito. You wouldn't know the truth if it hit you in the arse. After the Clinton regime's war crimes, both foreign and domestic, you just love the criminal. Late look at Bosnia, Somalia, Waco, Ruby Ridge, Elian Conzalis, failure to protect our Constitution from enemies, both foreign and domestic. Hey, the list is just mind boggling... and this Judge you seem to love, is no moderate, but he was noted as a fund raiser for ACORN. You know, the liberal, fraudulent group that is under several federal investigations for voter registration fraud and tampering with evidence in federal cases. His stance is far from that of a Constitutional protector. But..hey, thats your kind of guy..no? Someone who interprets the Constitution as most Commies do. Maybe his ACLU (American Communist Liberal Union) ties will help set things in order. Time for your doses of medication....; Reply to this comment


by rleng616 March 17, 2009 3:32 PM EDT: "He was nominated to the district court bench by President Clinton even though he had no judicial experience and was rated as "not qualified" by the ABA."

He is as moderate as Karl Marx; Reply to this comment


by tcc333 March 17, 2009 3:16 PM EDT: Very interesting since I understand that this same David Hamilton was nominated to the district court bench by President Clinton even though he had no judicial experience and was rated as "not qualified" by the ABA.; Reply to this comment


by DefendLiberty March 17, 2009 3:15 PM EDT: Thank God we are done with the anti-liberty far right Bush/GOP appointments. The GOP/Bushies hated the ABA because the GOP/Bushies wanted to put in place their partisan HACKS who would ignore the law and the CONSTITUTION while doing the bidding of their neocon GOP masters. They did not want anyone questioning the credentials of their appointees- especially since MANY OF THEIR APPOINTEES WERE INCOMPETENT and only nominated because they were EXTREMIST RIGHT WING ZEALOTS.

The poster boy for the Far right GOP traitors is John Yoo, who eviscerated the Constitution and pissed all over the remains. The sad fact is that the Bush administration was the most authoritarian and anti-freedom administration in a century. The Bush/Cheney/GOP criminals claimed anti-Constitutional "Unitary Executive' powers that went so far as to assert that Bushie could SUSPEND THE CONSTITUTION ANY TIME BUSH/CHENEY WANTED TO. The DOJ OLC memos recently released show that these TREASONOUS CONSPIRATORS (John Yoo, Alberto Gonzales, Bush, Cheney, etc.) claimed they could shut down the media, prohibit free speech, suspend the 4th amendment, throw American CITIZENS in jail forever without legal recourse or trial, torture (including Americans), and more just on the say-so of Bushie.

The Bushies/GOP did not want any judges who would question their ascent to EXTREME POWER. Good riddance.; Reply to this comment


by bradkt1 March 17, 2009 2:28 PM EDT: It's about time that a distinguisged organization like the ABA was involved in the judicial selection process again instead of those partisan political hacks called the Federalist Society.; Reply to this comment