Maureen Groppe, writing for Gannett News Service, has an article about Judge Hamilton’s nomination to the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals. Conservatives are stalling a vote on his nomination. One case he has gotten particular grief about is his ruling that sectarian prayer could not be part of the official business of the Indiana House of Representatives. That decision, was well reasoned, and well within prior precedent. (The 7th Circuit declined to rule on the merits, instead overturning the decision based on taxpayer standing using Supreme Court decisions of a more recent vintage.)
Groppe’s article says that Senator Lugar supports the Hamilton nomination. Lugar says Hamilton has not been a judicial activist and “has ruled objectively and within the judicial mainstream.” The way the political parties have used the term, judicial “activism” has been meaningless — nothing more or less than “ruled consistently with my political philosophy.” Still, I think it’s pretty fair to say that Judge Hamilton has done a good job of applying precedent and statutory authority to the facts presented to him.
Hamilton is the nephew of former (and well respected) Congressman Lee Hamilton. Sen. Lugar has known the Hamilton family for a long time.
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