Conservatives Divided Over Whether To Filibuster Obama Judicial Nominee Hamilton

Main Category: Women's Health / Gynecology
Also Included In: Abortion;  Public Health
Article Date: 17 Nov 2009 - 5:00 PST

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Senate Republicans and conservative activists appear to be at an impasse over whether to attempt to filibuster President Obama's nomination of Indiana Judge David Hamilton to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit, The Hill reports (Bolton, The Hill, 11/15). The Senate is scheduled to vote on Tuesday on whether to cut off debate on the nominee. According to the Los Angeles Times, some conservatives have criticized Hamilton over his work for the American Civil Liberties Union before he became a judge, as well as for his rulings on abortion and prayer (Savage, Los Angeles Times, 11/16). In one case, A Woman's Choice-East Side Women's Clinic v. Newman, Hamilton ruled unconstitutional a provision in an Indiana informed-consent law that would have required women to attend in-person counseling before abortion procedures. The New York Times' "The Caucus" reports that the 7th Circuit later reversed Hamilton's decision, ruling that the law was not unconstitutionally burdensome. Conservative religious groups also object to Hamilton's ruling on the use of Christian prayer by Indiana lawmakers (Phillips, "The Caucus," New York Times, 11/12). However, Hamilton is generally considered a moderate, according to the Los Angeles Times. He has been endorsed by Indiana's two senators, Evan Bayh (D) and Richard Lugar (R), who had said that he "enthusiastically" supports the nomination (Los Angeles Times, 11/16).

On Nov. 10, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) filed a procedural motion for a cloture vote this week, which prompted conservative bloggers and antiabortion-rights groups to ramp up efforts to convince Senate Republicans to filibuster, according to "The Caucus" ("The Caucus," New York Times, 11/12). According to The Hill, Hamilton likely will receive an up-or-down vote because the Democratic caucus holds 60 Senate seats (The Hill, 11/15).

Twenty-four conservatives -- led by former Attorney General Edwin Meese, who served during the Reagan administration -- signed a letter urging the senators to block a vote on the nomination. The memo stated, "Judge Hamilton is precisely the kind of liberal judicial activist who would use our federal courts as his own superlegislature," adding, "The Senate should vote no on the cloture vote to stop his nomination." Alfred Regnery, the publisher of The American Spectator and one of the signatories, and others who signed the letter said Hamilton's record exemplifies the "extraordinary circumstances" that justify a filibuster. According to The Hill, nine of the conservatives in 2005 had signed a letter to GOP leaders calling on them to eliminate the filibuster of judicial nominees. In a letter last month to Senate Republicans, Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee -- which voted in June to approve Hamilton's nomination -- wrote, "This is one of those extraordinary circumstances where [Obama] should be informed that his nominee is not qualified."

The Hill reports that the effort to mount a filibuster has "become snagged on dissent within conservative circles." Manuel Miranda, a former Senate GOP leadership aide and chair of the Third Branch Conference, wrote in a recent e-mail to associates, "Respectfully, I disagree with this rally to 'vote no on the cloture' for this or any nominee that one would expect a Democratic president to nominate, if the sole purpose is to block or 'stop', and not merely and genuinely to prolong a debate." Miranda told The Hill, "This is the kind of thing that's a distraction and gives people the appearance of effort but really isn't any effort at all. The real effort is to get out there and debate and let people know who David Hamilton is" (The Hill, 11/15).

According to the New York Times, the Senate has approved six of Obama's judicial appointments -- two appellate court judges and four district court judges. Obama has made 12 appeals court nominations and 14 district court nominations, compared with 28 appellate and 36 district court nominations by President George W. Bush at a comparable point in his tenure. According to the New York Times, the slower pace of Obama's judiciary nominees has "deflat[ed] the hopes of liberals that the White House would move quickly to reshape the federal judiciary after eight years of Republican appointments' (Savage, New York Times, 11/5).

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