On March 17, 2009, he became President Barack Obama's first judicial nominee when he was named for a seat on the Seventh Circuit.
[7] 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.
[7] During his time in private practice, Hamilton frequently did pro bono work for the Indiana Civil Liberties Union, where he served briefly as a board member and Vice President for Litigation.
Ass'n v. Cottey,[9] 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.
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.
[12] 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.
[26] 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.