Roger Gregory

Roger L. Gregory (born July 17, 1953 in Philadelphia) is a federal judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.

Background

A native of Petersburg, Virginia, Gregory earned his B.A. degree, summa cum laude, from Virginia State University in 1975, and his law degree from the University of Michigan in 1978. He worked as an associate for two different law firms from 1978 until 1982. He co-founded the Richmond, Virginia law firm of Wilder & Gregory in 1982 with Lawrence Douglas Wilder (Virginia's first elected black Governor), and became the chair of its litigation section in 1985.

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 casting the lone dissenting vote because he objected to Clinton's use of his recess appointment power. Ironically, the first appellate judge confirmed during Bush's presidency was a Clinton nominee. "It always speaks well when the courts are reflective of all that America has, but the most important thing is that judges serve with integrity and competence in every regard," Gregory told the Associated Press immediately after his confirmation vote.

Gregory was the first judge nominated to the Fourth Circuit by Bush and confirmed by the Senate and is the first black judge to ever serve on the Fourth Circuit. Allyson Kay Duncan, appointed by Bush in 2003, is the second.

###@@@KEY@@@###succession box| title=Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit| before=N/A | after=incumbent | years=2000-present|

References

* [http://www.uiowa.edu/~030116/153/articles/lewis02.htm "New York Times" article discussing Clinton's recess appointment.]

* [http://www.nationalreview.com/york/york050901.shtml "National Review" article discussing Bush re-nomination of Gregory.]

* [http://air.fjc.gov/servlet/tGetInfo?jid=2888 Federal Judicial Center Profile]