Obama Pushing a "Radical's Radical" to the Federal Bench
Sarah Austin
-- Vote could come as early as Monday
Gun Owners of America E-Mail Alert
8001 Forbes Place, Suite 102, Springfield, VA 22151
Phone: 703-321-8585 / FAX: 703-321-8408
http://www.gunowners.org
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,
**************************
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