coues7 Report post Posted November 12, 2009 Thursday, November 12, 2009 He has been called "extreme" by some. But to others, he's beyond extreme... he's a "Radical's Radical." Whatever he is, he could become President Obama's next choice for the federal judiciary. This radical is Judge David Hamilton, and he's been nominated for a position on the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. Hamilton has made many political enemies on the right, seeing that his politics are to the far left of the political spectrum. Oh yes, judges aren't supposed to be political, but this one has engaged in quite a bit of leftist activism. His biggest opponent on Capitol Hill is Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama, the ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Based on his analysis of Hamilton, gun owners should be very concerned about a judge who is all to willing to "amend the Constitution." According to Senator Sessions: Judge Hamilton stated in a 2003 speech that the role of a judge includes writing footnotes to the Constitution: "Judge S. Hugh Dillin of this court has said that part of our job here as judges is to write a series of footnotes to the Constitution. We all do that every year in cases large and small." In explaining this statement to Senator Hatch, Judge Hamilton wrote that he believes the Framers intended judges to amend the Constitution through evolving case law. 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. Certainly any judicial nomination put forth by our anti-gun President is suspect, but it's interesting to note who his chief backer is in the U.S. Senate. It's none other than Senator Richard Lugar of Indiana, who holds an "F" rating from Gun Owners of America. Lugar has never failed to support one of Obama's anti-gun nominations, as evidenced by his votes for Attorney General Eric Holder, State Department lawyer Harold Koh, Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor and the incredibly wacky Regulatory Czar Cass Sunstein. On policy questions, Senator Lugar is no better. To wit, he voted against repealing the gun ban in Washington, DC this year. Considering Hamilton's extreme track record, it's no wonder that Senator Lugar -- in introducing Hamilton to his colleagues -- begged his fellow Senators to ignore the judge's policy views. Lugar asked them not to base their votes on "partisan considerations, much less on how we hope or predict a given judicial nominee will 'vote' on particular issues of public moment or controversy." Instead, Lugar asked his colleagues "to evaluate judicial candidates on whether they have the requisite intellect, experience, character and temperament that Americans deserve from their judges...." In other words, ignore Judge Hamilton's liberalism and just vote for him because he's so smart and because he's such a nice guy! Judge Hamilton's rulings have made a lot of enemies on the political right, especially the one in Hinrichs v. Bosma where, according to a November 3 editorial in The Washington Times, he "prohibited prayers in the Indiana House of Representatives that expressly mentioned Jesus Christ... yet he allowed prayers which mentioned Allah." Gun owners have much to be concerned about, as well. Anytime a judge who believes in rewriting the Constitution is elevated to sit as an appellate judge, that's a scary thing -- especially given the fact that most cases never reach the U.S. Supreme Court and are, thus, decided at lower levels in the federal judiciary. ACTION: Please contact your Senators right away and urge them to vote AGAINST Judge David Hamilton. You can use the Gun Owners Legislative Action Center at http://www.gunowners.org/activism.htm to send your legislators the pre-written e-mail message below. ----- Pre-written letter ----- Dear Senator: I urge you to vote against Judge David Hamilton for the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. In addition to opposing his far left views, I don't appreciate his disdain for the Constitution. To quote Senator Sessions, the ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee: "Judge Hamilton stated in a 2003 speech that the role of a judge includes writing footnotes to the Constitution: 'Judge S. Hugh Dillin of this court has said that part of our job here as judges is to write a series of footnotes to the Constitution. We all do that every year in cases large and small.' In explaining this statement to Senator Hatch, Judge Hamilton wrote that he believes the Framers intended judges to amend the Constitution through evolving case law." 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 written answers to the Senate Judiciary Committee show his lack of understanding regarding the Second and Fourteenth Amendments. While Hamilton cannot ignore what the Supreme Court said in DC v. Heller (2008), he refuses to admit that the individual right to keep and bear arms applies anywhere outside of Washington, D.C. -- instead, he just says he will rely on evolving "case law [as] developed in earlier incorporation cases." Once again, evolving case law -- more often than not -- takes us away from what the Constitution actually says. Please vote NO on David Hamilton. Sincerely, Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
azpackhorse Report post Posted December 4, 2009 A reply from John McCain Dear Mr. Fisher: Thank you for contacting me regarding the nomination of David Hamilton to the U.S. Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit. I appreciate your thoughts on this important issue. David Hamilton was nominated by President Obama on March 17, 2009. The Senate Judiciary Committee held hearings on Judge Hamilton's nomination on April 1, 2009 and April 28, 2009 and reported his nomination out of committee on June 4, 2009 by a 12-7 vote. At this time, the nomination has not been considered by the full Senate. As with all nominees to the Federal bench, I will thoroughly consider his experience, qualifications, philosophy and judicial temperament when his nomination comes before the full Senate for a vote. The founding fathers of our country specifically provided in Article II, Section 2 of the Constitution that members of the Senate should provide "advice and consent" to the President on his or her nominees. I take that duty seriously and will review his nomination at the appropriate time. Thank you again for taking the time to share your views. Please feel free to contact me on this or any other matter of concern. Sincerely, John McCain United States Senator JM/dkr Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
