Religious Liberty Coalition Urges Opposition to Judicial Nominee

Judge Hamilton's understanding of the religious protections embodied in the First Amendment has been greatly criticized.

WASHINGTON (Christian Newswire) - A coalition of groups representing hundreds of thousands of Americans around the country sent a letter to senators today opposing the nomination of Judge David Hamilton to the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.

Judge Hamilton's understanding of the religious protections embodied in the First Amendment has been greatly criticized because of a bizarre 2005 decision where he ordered the Speaker of the Indiana House to stop prayers in the name of "Jesus" or "Christ," yet concluded that prayers in the name of "Allah" were okay.

"Our Founders would have a hard time finding a more fundamental principle of liberty than that every man should be free to pray according to his beliefs," said the coalition in the letter.

Hamilton also disregarded Supreme Court precedent to prevent the state of Indiana from enforcing an informed-consent law that required abortionists to inform women about the risks of abortion.

The coalition, which includes Concerned Women for America, the American Family Association, Focus on the Family, Family Research Council and Liberty Council among others, made clear that "No Senator in good conscience should vote for this nominee."

A hearing on the nomination of Judge Hamilton is scheduled for Wednesday, April 29, 2009, at 2:00 p.m. The thousands of members represented by this coalition will be carefully watching to see if Senate Judiciary members are really paying attention to those they claim to represent.

Concerned Women for America is the nation's largest public policy women's organization.