Judge Roger Gregory Finally OK'd For Seat On U.S. Court Of Appeals

Jet, August 6, 2001

Ever since he was nominated for the Court of Appeals of the Fourth Circuit, Richmond, VA, lawyer Roger Gregory has been the country's most publicized jurist.

President Clinton failed to persuade senators to confirm him to a seat on the Fourth Circuit bench, a circuit whose population is 22 percent Black, higher than any other federal jurisdiction in the country. So while the Senate was not

in session, the President gave Gregory a recess appointment.

After months of lobbying, the temporary judge finally won Senate approval with a whopping 93-1 vote.

The only lawmaker to vote against him was Sen. Trent Lott, a Mississippi Republican. His aides said that he always voted against recess appointees.

What surprised observers, however, was the cost of putting a Black judge on the Fourth Circuit bench for the first time. It took two Presidents, three senators, his former law partner, former Virginia Governor L. Douglas Wilder, and several political deals to negotiate the historic appointment.

Said 48-year-old Judge Gregory after his victory, "It feels good to finally have this over."