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Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Ind. Courts - "Obama's pick for Indianapolis judge would fill spot once saved for Hammond federal judge" [Updated]

That is the headline to an unattributed NWI Times story that begins:

President Barack Obama nominated an Indianapolis-based federal judge to the regional appeals court Tuesday, moving to fill a seat President Bush tried to give to a Hammond federal court judge.

Obama chose U.S. District Judge David Hamilton for the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, contending Hamilton was a mainstream jurist who could overcome the bitter Senate confirmation fights of the past several years.

President Bush nominated Hammond federal court Judge Philip Simon to the bench in September, but Simon's nomination died in Congress.

One of Simon's staffers said the judge would have no comment Wednesday.

Obama has 15 federal appellate vacancies to fill, including the 7th Circuit court that covers Wisconsin, Indiana and Illinois. Since most cases do not reach the Supreme Court, the 12 geographically based federal appellate circuits often provide the last word on a variety of issues affecting Americans.

I'd thought there were more than a total of 15 vacancies on the Courts of Appeals.

[More] Or maybe not. I see from this article that the 9th Circuit currently has 2 vacancies. This article says the 4th Circuit has 4 vacancies currently.

[Updated at 3:00 PM] A reader has sent a link to this chart which, once studied carefully, lists 15 total CCA vacancies. It also lists the District Court openings, which number 52.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on March 18, 2009 01:48 PM
Posted to Indiana Courts