David Hamilton (judge)

Early life, education, and career

Born in Bloomington, Indiana, Hamilton grew up in southern Indiana and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Haverford College in 1979, followed by a Juris Doctor from Yale Law School in 1983. He also performed graduate work as a Fulbright Scholar at the University of Tübingen in Germany.

Hamilton worked from 1983 until 1984 as a law clerk for Judge Richard Dickson Cudahy of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.

Federal judicial service

District court service

President Bill Clinton nominated Hamilton to be a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana on June 8, 1994. The Senate confirmed Hamilton by a voice vote on October 7, 1994. He received his commission on October 11, 1994. Hamilton was the chief judge of the Southern District of Indiana from January 1, 2008, to November 24, 2009. His service as a district court judge was terminated on November 24, 2009, when he was elevated to the court of appeals.

A number of cases Hamilton decided as a district court judge drew media attention. In American Amusement Mach. Ass'n v. Cottey, Hamilton held that the First Amendment did not prevent the city of Indianapolis from requiring parental consent for children to have access to video games containing explicit sexual content or extreme violence. This ruling was overturned by the Seventh Circuit.

Hamilton drew headlines in 2005 for ruling that the Indiana state legislature violated the Establishment Clause when it began sessions with Christian prayers imploring conversion to Christianity or representing Christianity as the only true faith. He held that prayers invoking Jesus Christ or using terms like savior were sectarian, but names for God in other languages were permissible, absent evidence that those words were used in order to advance or disparage a particular religion. The ruling was overturned by the Seventh Circuit on the ground that the taxpayer plaintiffs lacked standing.

Court of appeals service

On March 17, 2009, President Barack Obama announced his intention to nominate Hamilton to a vacancy on the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit that was created by Judge Kenneth Francis Ripple, who assumed senior status in September 2008. Obama formally nominated Hamilton later that day. He became President Barack Obama's first judicial nominee when he was named for a seat on the Seventh Circuit. On November 17, 2009, the Senate invoked cloture on his nomination 70–29 vote. On November 19, 2009, Hamilton's nomination was confirmed by a 59–39 vote. He received his commission on November 23, 2009. He assumed senior status on December 5, 2022.

Notable opinions

• In March 2017, Hamilton partially dissented when the circuit found that police officers could not be sued for needlessly destroying property during a search because they had prevented the owner from witnessing which officers had caused the damage and that the owner had not pled a novel “conspiracy of silence” claim.
• In December 2017, Hamilton authored the majority opinion in Dassey v. Dittmann, which denied Brendan Dassey's habeas corpus petition to have his murder conviction thrown out because, his lawyers argued, it was based on a coerced false confession. Dassey's confession had become the source of national outrage when portions of it were aired in the Netflix miniseries Making a Murderer. Brendan Dassey was sixteen at the time of the confession, and had an IQ of approximately 80. Despite noting the numerous inconsistencies and troubling procedural problems with the confession, Hamilton, along with three Conservative judges on the 7th Circuit en banc appeals court, decided that the confession was a viable piece of evidence and that Dassey's murder conviction should stand.
• On August 27, 2019, Hamilton wrote the majority opinion in blocking Indiana's parental notification requirement. Hamilton was joined by Ilana Rovner, over the dissent of Michael Stephen Kanne. On November 1, 2019, the seventh circuit denied rehearing by a vote of 6–5, with Hamilton in the majority, however Frank Easterbrook, who provided the decisive vote, called on the Supreme Court to hear the case.
• On August 29, 2019, Hamilton was one of 3 judges that upheld Illinois' assault weapon ban.
• On February 24, 2020, Hamilton authored the majority opinion in Viamedia v. Comcast, a case dealing with a contentious doctrine in American antitrust law known as refusal to deal. Although the opinion was not based on a trial and only allowed Viamedia to proceed with its monopolization claims against Comcast, some antitrust scholars believe the case could "breathe life" into refusal to deal claims, which have generally lost favor following the Supreme Court's decision in Verizon Communications Inc. v. Law Offices of Curtis V. Trinko, LLP.
• On December 17, 2021, Hamilton dissented in a 7-3 decision that ruled that a police officer who stopped a car because it was following another car too closely and then searched the car for drugs did not violate the 4th amendment. Hamilton showed concern that the 7th circuit's ruling could allow a police officer to detain someone at a basic traffic stop until the officer is satisfied.
• On October 16, 2025, Hamilton was one of three judges who blocked the Trump administration from deploying the National Guard against protesters in Chicago.. The Trump administration appealed to the Supreme Court , and on December 23, 2025, the Supreme Court declined to reverse the ruling blocking National Guard deployment.

Family

Hamilton's brother, John Hamilton, served as the mayor of Bloomington, Indiana from 2016 to 2024. John Hamilton is married to Dawn Johnsen, whose nomination to serve as assistant attorney general for the Office of Legal Counsel in the United States Department of Justice was blocked by the Senate. His father, Richard "Dick" Hamilton is a retired United Methodist minister who served the North United Methodist Church in Indianapolis for many years. Hamilton is a nephew of former Congressman Lee Hamilton.

References

References

1. (January 7, 1996). "Confirmation Hearings on Federal Appointments: Hearings Before the Committee on the Judiciary, United States Senate, One Hundred Second Congress, First Session, on Confirmation Hearings on Appointments to the Federal Judiciary". [[United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary]].
2. [https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the_press_office/President-Obama-Announces-David-Hamilton-for-the-United-States-7th-Circuit-Court-of-Appeals/ President Obama Announces David Hamilton for the United States 7th Circuit Court of Appeals] ''The White House'', March 17, 2009
3. Neil A. Lewis, [https://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/17/us/politics/17nominate.html Moderate Is Said to Be Pick for Court] ''The New York Times'', March 17, 2009
4. "Judicial Nominations and Confirmations: 111th Congress".
5. {{FJC Bio
6. "Biography of Chief Judge David F. Hamilton". United States District Court, Southern District of Indiana.
7. "Chief Judge David F. Hamilton".
8. "Circuit Nominee Mixed Corporate, Civil Liberties Work".
9. ''American Amusement Mach. Ass'n v. Cottey'', 115 F. Supp. 2d 943 (S.D. Ind. 2000).
10. ''American Amusement Machine Association v. Kendrick'', 244 F.3d 572 (7th Cir. 2001).
11. "ENTRY ON POST-JUDGMENT MOTIONS, HINRICHS v. BOSMA, NO. 1:05-cv-0813-DFH-TAB".
12. ''Hinrichs v. Speaker of the House of Representatives'', 506 F.3rd 584 (7th Cir. 2007)
13. (17 March 2009). "President Obama Announces David Hamilton for the United States 7th Circuit Court of Appeals - whitehouse.gov". [[whitehouse.gov]].
14. "On the Motion (Motion to Invoke Cloture on the Nomination of David F. Hamilton, of Indiana, to be U.S. Circuit Judge for the Seventh Circuit)".
15. "On the Nomination (Confirmation David F. Hamilton, of Indiana, to be U.S. Circuit Judge for the Seventh Circuit)".
16. Note. (2018). "Recent Case: Seventh Circuit Suggests Conspiracy-of-Silence Claim for Plaintiffs Who Are Prevented from Witnessing Search". [[Harvard Law Review.
17. {{cite court. (2017). link
18. (December 11, 2017). "The Tragic, Real-Life Epilogue to Netflix's "Making a Murderer"".
19. "Indiana Abortion Notice Injunction Upheld by Divided seventh Cir.".
20. (November 1, 2019). "Full appeals court won't rehear Indiana abortion law case".
21. (August 29, 2019). "PER CURIAM Opinion, WILSON v. COOK COUNTY, No. 1:17-cv-07002".
22. "Seventh Circuit Breathes New Life into Refusal-to-Deal Claims".
23. (January 3, 2022). "Trump Judge Upholds Extended Police Stop of Black Man in Ruling that Threatens to Allow Police to "Harass and Humiliate" Drivers and Conduct "Racially Discriminatory Stops and Searches": Our Courts, Our Fight".
24. (December 17, 2021). "US v. Janhoi Cole".
25. (2025-10-16). "State of Illinois and City of Chicago v. Donald J. Trump".
26. (2025-10-16). ""Not Guilty"".
27. (2025-10-17). "Trump admin asks SCOTUS for an order allowing it to deploy troops in Chicago immediately".
28. (2025-12-23). "DONALD J. TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, ET AL. v. ILLINOIS, ET AL.".
29. (2025-12-23). "Trump Just Faced the Biggest Supreme Court Defeat of His Second Term So Far".
30. (2025-12-23). "The Supreme Court just handed Trump a rare — and very significant — loss".
31. (25 April 2007). "Office of the Mayor".
32. "Obama Announces First Judicial Nominee".