Obama Displays ‘Considerable Degree of Cautiousness’ in Court Picks
President Obama quietly announced his first choice for a federal appeals seat in a press release, a stark contrast to President Bush’s 2001 Rose Garden ceremony where he announced 11 appeals court nominees.
Now Obama has announced three nominees for federal appeals courts, and all appear to be cautious picks, observers told the Daily Journal (sub. req.).
All the nominees are federal trial judges. They are: David Hamilton of Indiana for the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals based in Chicago, Gerard Lynch of New York for the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals based in New York, and Andre Davis of Baltimore for the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals based in Richmond, Va.
The nominees are all “professionalized” judges, meaning they follow a similar route that often starts with a federal clerkship and government experience before joining the bench, observers told the publication.
University of Miami law professor Anthony Alfieri characterized the choices this way: “To the extent that the selections signal a trend, that trend reflects the president’s pragmatism, his commitment to excellence, his respect for intellectual or academic pedigrees and a considerable degree of cautiousness in seeking to steer his appointments with as little controversy as possible,” he told the Daily Journal.
Hamilton is a Yale Law School grad who worked at Barnes & Thornburg and served as counsel to former Indiana Gov. Evan Bayh, now a senator. Lynch graduated first in his class at Columbia Law School, where he was later a professor, and also worked as a prosecutor. Davis is a former prosecutor and state court judge who attended the University of Maryland School of Law and became a professor there.
Hamilton is drawing some criticism from conservatives, however, because of his affiliation with the American Civil Liberties Union and a ruling striking down Indiana abortion restrictions. But he has the support of Bayh and Indiana’s other senator.
