Civil Rights Community Commends Senators Voting to Consider the Confirmation of Judge David F. Hamilton

Senate Approves Cloture Vote for Judge Hamilton, 70-29

“The civil rights community commends those senators who put principle above partisanship today by voting to allow the Senate to consider the confirmation of Judge David F. Hamilton to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. Quite frankly, it shouldn’t have taken eight months to confirm this well-qualified nominee.

Given his distinguished record on the bench and the unqualified support he received from Senator Richard Lugar, R-Ind., Judge Hamilton should have been confirmed months ago after the Senate Judiciary Committee recommended his appointment in early June. Instead, the administration’s opponents employed obstructionist tactics and attempted to manufacture controversy out of thin air to deny our courts the services of a capable jurist who adheres to the rule of law.

Sadly, the attacks on Judge Hamilton are not an isolated incident. Although the new administration is entering its 10th month, anonymous holds and filibuster threats, sometimes backed by outrageous distortions of nominees’ records, have prevented a number of key executive and judicial positions from being filled.

While it’s important to thoroughly vet every nominee and to engage in honest debates about policy priorities, the challenges of our times demand a higher standard of civility and discourse than was demonstrated in the course of Judge Hamilton’s prolonged path to confirmation.”