Fourth Circuit Nomination and Confirmation
On June 30, 2000, President Bill Clinton nominated Gregory to a seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit that had been vacant for close to a decade since it had been created (the Senate had never acted on Clinton's previous nominee to that seat, J. Rich Leonard). After the Senate declined to take up Gregory's nomination, and the 2000 presidential election was already over, Clinton installed Gregory on the Fourth Circuit on December 27, 2000 via the presidential power of recess appointment. Gregory's recess appointment would have lasted only until the Senate recessed at the end of 2001. However, he was renominated by newly elected President George W. Bush on May 9, 2001.
The Senate confirmed Gregory on July 20, 2001 in a 93-1 vote, with then-Senator Trent Lott of Mississippi casting the lone dissenting vote because he objected to Clinton's use of his recess appointment power.
Gregory was the first judge nominated to the Fourth Circuit by Bush and confirmed by the United States Senate and is the first black judge to serve on the Fourth Circuit.
Read more about this topic: Roger Gregory
Famous quotes containing the words fourth, circuit, nomination and/or confirmation:
“For the Lord thy God is a jealous God among you.”
—Bible: Hebrew Deuteronomy, 6:15.
The words are also found in Exodus 20:5, referring to the second commandment: “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image ... for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me.”
“each new victim treads unfalteringly
The never altered circuit of his fate,
Bringing twelve peers as witness
Both to his starry rise and starry fall.”
—Robert Graves (1895–1985)
“Do you know I believe that [William Jennings] Bryan will force his nomination on the Democrats again. I believe he will either do this by advocating Prohibition, or else he will run on a Prohibition platform independent of the Democrats. But you will see that the year before the election he will organize a mammoth lecture tour and will make Prohibition the leading note of every address.”
—William Howard Taft (1857–1930)
“The confirmation of Clarence Thomas, one of the most conservative voices to be added to the [Supreme] Court in recent memory, carries a sobering message for the African- American community.... As he begins to make his mark upon the lives of African Americans, we must acknowledge that his successful nomination is due in no small measure to the support he received from black Americans.”
—Kimberly Crenshaw (b. 1959)