Senate Judiciary Approves First Obama Judicial Nominees

By Seth Stern | June 4, 2009 11:52 AM | | Comments (0)

President Obama's first two judicial nominees were approved Thursday by the Senate Judiciary Committee.

The committee voted 12 to 7 for David Hamilton, a nominee for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit along strict party lines.

Andre Davis, a nominee for the 4th Circuit, was approved 16 to 3, picking up support from four Republicans: Orrin G. Hatch of Utah, Jon Kyl of Arizona, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and John Cornyn of Texas.

The votes were preceded by what has become a rarity in the committee: a genuine debate over the meaning of what an empathetic judge is.

Kyl took exception with President Obama's notion of empathy. Kyl argued there is "the reality is there is always a legal reason to rule" a certain way. "You don't have to default to what's in your heart," Kyl said.

Dianne Feinstein of California said she didn't want empathy to become "the Darth Vader of any kind of judicial appointment."

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