Federal Judicial Service
On June 8, 1994, President Bill Clinton nominated Hamilton to be a judge on the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana. The United States Senate confirmed Hamilton in a voice vote on October 7, 1994, and he received his commission on October 11, 1994.
A number of cases decided by Hamilton have drawn media attention. In American Amusement Mach. Ass'n v. Cottey, Hamilton held that the First Amendment did not prevent the city of Indianapolis from requiring parental consent for children to have access to video games containing explicit sexual content or extreme violence. This ruling was overturned by the Seventh Circuit.
In November 2005, Hamilton drew headlines for ruling that because "the Establishment Clause was intended in large part to protect religious minorities from religious majorities who might try to harness the power and prestige of the government to advance their sincere religious beliefs", the Indiana state legislature is not permitted to begin its sessions with Christian prayers imploring conversion to Christianity or representing Christianity as the only true faith. He held that invocations that use names like Jesus Christ or Christian terms like savior are sectarian, but that names for God in other languages are permissible unless there is evidence that those words are used in order to advance or disparage a particular religion. Hamilton concluded that using proselytizing words in invocations at the statehouse violated the United States Constitution. "All are free to pray as they wish in their own houses of worship or in other settings," Hamilton wrote. "Those who wish to participate in a practice of official prayer must be willing to stay within constitutional bounds." The ruling was overturned by the Seventh Circuit on the grounds that the taxpayers lacked standing.
In 2006, the Seventh Circuit upheld Hamilton's decision to sentence a child pornographer to one hundred years in prison.
In 2008, Hamilton became the chief judge of the Southern District of Indiana.
On March 17, 2009, President Barack Obama announced his intention to nominate Hamilton to a vacancy on the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit that was created by the September 2008 transition to senior status by Judge Kenneth F. Ripple. Obama formally nominated Hamilton to the Seventh Circuit later that day.
On June 4, 2009, Hamilton was voted out of the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary in a party-line, 12-7 vote.
On November 10, 2009, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid filed for cloture on Hamilton's nomination. On November 17, 2009, the Senate voted 70-29 to end the Republican filibuster of the nomination. Judge Hamilton was the first Obama judicial nominee subject to a cloture vote. The Senate approved Hamilton's nomination in a 59-39 vote on November 19, 2009.
Read more about this topic: David Hamilton (judge)
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