7th Circuit’s Hamilton to take senior status, giving Biden second vacancy

Photo of U.S. Circuit Judge David Hamilton courtesy of the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals

U.S. Circuit Judge David Hamilton has notified the White House that he plans to step down from active service on the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, creating a second vacancy for President Joe Biden to fill on the Chicago-based court.

Hamilton, who was appointed to the bench by Democratic President Barack Obama in 2009, in a letter to Biden on Wednesday said after he is eligible to assume senior status in May he would do so upon the confirmation of a successor.

Judges must be at least 65 and have completed a minimum of 15 years of active service before taking senior status. Hamilton turns 65 in May.

Hamilton, who before his elevation to the 7th Circuit had served as a federal district court judge in the Southern District of Indiana since 1994, called serving in the judiciary a “privilege.”

“I intend to continue to render substantial service as a senior judge for the foreseeable future,” he added.

Hamilton is one of three Democratic appointees among the 11 judges on the 7th Circuit, which hears cases out of Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin. President Donald Trump named four of its eight Republican-appointed judges.

Since joining the appellate court, Hamilton has ruled to block abortion restrictions in Republican-led Indiana and Wisconsin, affirm Illinois’ assault rifle ban and uphold the murder conviction of the Wisconsin man whose case was chronicled in the television documentary “Making of a Murderer.”

Biden’s first nominee to the 7th Circuit, former public defender and Zuckerman Spaeder partner Candace Jackson-Akiwumi, was confirmed by the Senate in June.

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