Democrats poised to end GOP court filibuster

WASHINGTON — Democrats were poised Tuesday end to end a Senate filibuster against a controversial appeals court nominee and show Republicans they can't stop President Barack Obama from turning the federal judiciary to the left.

Democrats, with a bit of Republican help, are expected to exceed the 60 votes needed to limit debate on U.S. District Judge David Hamilton, assuring his confirmation to the Chicago-based appeals court by a simple majority of the 100-member Senate.

The vote fires a political shot over the GOP's bow: You don't have the votes to prevent Obama from remaking a federal judiciary that for the past eight years was filled with conservative judges chosen by George W. Bush.

Republicans have objected to holding a vote on Hamilton's confirmation since June, when the Judiciary Committee reported his nomination favorably to the full Senate.

Conservative Republican senators and their judicial-watching outside groups then launched a major political assault on Hamilton.

They criticized his rulings against Christian prayers in the Indiana legislature and against a menorah in the Indiana Municipal Building's holiday display.

Conservatives were furious that Hamilton struck down part of an Indiana law requiring women to make two trips to a clinic before they could get an abortion. He said the requirement placed an undue burden on a woman's constitutional right to choose to end a pregnancy.

Beyond the political message, the filibuster effectively ended a bipartisan accord reached in 2005, when 14 senators signed onto a deal that effectively stopped Democratic filibusters of Bush's judicial nominees except in extraordinary circumstances.

Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., who led the opposition to Hamilton, argued that Hamilton's record met his definition of extraordinary circumstances.

Hamilton's confirmation by itself will not have a large political effect. The 7th Circuit appellate court, which serves, Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin, has seven judges nominated by Republican presidents — while Hamilton would be the fourth chosen by a Democrat.

Last week, the Senate confirmed U.S. District Judge Andre Davis of Baltimore for the appeals court based in Richmond, Va., giving Democratic nominees a 6-5 edge on the 4th Circuit that once was a conservative legal bastion.

Other appellate courts are close to a political turnaround.