Gregory D.

Lee

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March 27, 2009

Judge David F. Hamilton: The Beginning of Obama’s ‘Court of Empathy’

First Judicial Nominee Reveals Obama’s Cards

Last week, President Obama offered up U.S. District Judge David F. Hamilton as his first judicial nominee to the 7^th Circuit Court of Appeals. Not surprisingly, the nomination of Judge Hamilton reveals what we can expect from the president on future Supreme Court nominations, and the future does not look pretty.

Last July, presidential candidate Obama promised in a speech at a Planned Parenthood conference to appoint judges with “empathy.” He cited a recent Supreme Court decision upholding a ban on partial birth abortion as a “concerted effort to steadily roll back” abortion availability. He went on to say, "We need somebody who's got the heart, the empathy, to recognize what it's like to be a young teenage mom; the empathy to understand what it's like to be poor, or African-American, or gay, or disabled, or old. And that's the criteria by which I'm going to be selecting my judges."

Apparently, someone with a record of following the Constitution won’t even be considered.

The Washington Post reported that the White House “held out Hamilton as a prototype for the nominees Obama will seek as he reshapes the federal appeals court – and by extension, the laws governing contentious social issues such as abortion and affirmative action – during his presidency.” According to the article, the White House also “touted him as the type of moderate who could cool the nation’s long-simmering judicial battles.” If Judge Hamilton is a moderate, then Ann Coulter is a non-controversial wallflower and an extreme left-wing, tree-hugging, abortion practicing liberal who idolizes Bill Clinton and thinks Al Franken deserves to win the Minnesota U.S. Senate seat.

I say this because Judge Hamilton is a card-carrying member of the American Civil Liberties Union, an organization that is off-the-charts, far-left wing and Marxist-inspired. He isn’t just a member of the ACLU, he sat on the organization’s Indiana branch board. He also spent a month after college raising funds door-to-door for ACORN, the same organization that fraudulently registered large numbers of Obama supporters multiple times to vote in last November’s election. I guess Judge Hamilton also has empathy for crooked liberal Democratic politicians who cannot win without a fixed election.

Judge Hamilton’s prior judicial decisions illustrate he’s a man with empathy instead of sound jurisprudence. In 2003, he struck down a portion of an Indiana law that required abortion clinics to give women information about alternatives to abortion in the presence of a physician or nurse. Judge Hamilton ruled against it mostly because the information had to be given to the woman 18 hours ahead of the abortion, requiring the woman to make two visits to the clinic. His decision was overturned by a higher court after appeal.

In 2005, Judge Hamilton ruled unconstitutional the daily invocation of the Indiana House because it too often referred to Jesus Christ and a Christian God. He felt that the invocation showed preference for Christianity over other religions. This decision was also promptly overturned by a higher court. Do you see a pattern of empathy developing here?

So, according to President Obama, Judge Hamilton is perfect for a court of appeals because he can show empathy toward lower court judges who don’t follow the Constitution as a guide to determine whether a statute is constitutional or not. He can empathize with the benefactors of blatantly unconstitutional affirmative action programs and fraudulent voting rolls, and at least sympathize with women who want to kill their unborn babies.

Justice Ruth Ginsberg has already hinted that she may retire soon after recently experiencing health issues. Another Justice is 89 years old, and three others are over 70. With geriatric statistics like that, the next four to eight years can result in a lopsided ultra-liberal Court full of Justices with an abundance of empathy instead of impartiality.

Gregory D. Lee writes a weekly column for North Star Writers Group. He can be reached through his web site: www.gregorydlee.com.

© 2009 North Star Writers Group. May not be republished without permission.

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