Legal Research

President Obama has made his first judicial nomination, naming federal district court judge David Hamilton as his pick to fill a vacancy on the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.  Most would view him as a moderate, and he has the backing of Senator Lugar, the Republican Senator from his home state of Indiana.  Regardless, conservatives are tagging him as an "activist" judge, because of his rulings in support of reproductive freedom.  As other commentators have pointed out, though, "activist" is often merely code for "I don't like your decisions."  Your strict constructionalist, say Antonin Scalia, is my activist judge.