« Courts - More on "If Chicago cop caught you with LIDAR, go to court: Judge will dismiss it" | Main | Ind. Decisions - Court of Appeals issues 2 today (and 1 NFP) »

Monday, November 09, 2009

Courts - More on Judge David Hamlton's nomination to 7th Circuit

Updating this ILB entry from Nov. 5, which included this quote from the Washington Post:

WASHINGTON -- Ten months into Barack Obama's presidency, Democrats are accusing Republicans of creating "a dark mark on the Senate" by delaying confirmation of his federal court nominees. * * *

It's primarily two federal judges - one from Indiana, the other Maryland - who've been waiting five months for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., to bring their nominations for appeals court promotions to the Senate floor. * * *

The Republican stall at this point is focused on two appellate court judges whose nominations were sent by the Judiciary Committee to the full Senate on June 4:

- David Hamilton of Indiana, a U.S. district judge and nephew of former Democratic Congressman Lee Hamilton, chosen for the Chicago-based appeals court. Reid said he wants a vote on Hamilton by Veterans Day. He'll probably need a super majority of 60 to get one.

- Andre Davis, a district judge in Maryland, nominated for a seat on the appellate court headquartered in Richmond, Va.

The good news today comes from this story in the Baltimore Sun headed "Long wait may soon end for appeals court nominee from Md: Federal judge in Baltimore could get confirmed today."

The potentially bad news, as least as far as Indiana's Judge Hamlton, who is not mentioned in the story, is concerned, is evident starting with the first paragraph of the story:

WASHINGTON - It has been nine years since federal District Judge Andre M. Davis of Baltimore was first nominated to fill the so-called Maryland seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va.

It's been seven months since President Barack Obama renominated Davis for the same position - which has remained vacant because of the political stalemate in Washington since the death of Judge Francis D. Murnaghan Jr. in August 2000.

And it has been more than five months since the Senate Judiciary Committee, on a bipartisan vote, cleared Davis for confirmation by the full Senate. Again it was politics - delaying tactics by Senate Republicans, who are waging a relatively unnoticed, but largely successful, blocking campaign against Obama nominees - that forced Davis to wait some more.

Soon, however, the Baltimore native, having spent his 50s waiting for the promotion to come through, could finally be able to move up.

Senate debate on Davis' nomination is scheduled to begin today, with a confirmation vote expected later in the day. The timing could slip, but not the result: With the solid Democratic majority, his confirmation seems a foregone conclusion when senators finally get to vote.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on November 9, 2009 09:50 AM
Posted to Courts in general