Ronnie L. White

Ronnie L. White (born 1953) was a judge on several Missouri courts and is currently a practicing attorney. He was born in St. Louis, Missouri.

White graduated from St. Louis Community College in 1977 and St. Louis University in 1979. He earned a law degree from the University of Missouri–Kansas City in 1983. He worked as a public defender in St. Louis and an attorney in various other government offices and was a Missouri Representative for six years. From 1993 to 1994, he served on the St. Louis City Council. In May 1994, Governor Mel Carnahan appointed him a judge for the Eastern District of the Missouri Court of Appeals.

Carnahan appointed White to the Supreme Court of Missouri in October 1995. He was the court's first African-American Chief Justice, from 2003 to 2005. [" [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1355/is_3_104/ai_105556871 New Chief Justice of Missouri Supreme Court] ". "Jet". July 14, 2003.] White retired from the court on July 6, 2007.

In 1997, President Bill Clinton nominated White for a federal district court seat. White's nomination passed the Senate Judiciary Committee, but ran into resistance from then-Missouri Senator John Ashcroft in 1999. Ashcroft claimed White was "pro-criminal" due to White's opinions in death penalty cases before the Supreme Court and cited opposition from Missouri police associations that were later discovered to be all-white. [Michael Grunwald. " [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/campaigns/keyraces2000/stories/ashcroft102399.htm Missouri Senate Race Is Heating Up Early] ". "Washington Post". October 23, 1999.] Carnahan and other Democrats criticized Republican opposition to the nomination, and it quickly became embroiled with racial overtones and an issue in the Missouri Senate election the following year. [Ben White. " [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/supcourt/stories/judge100799.htm Deepening Rift Over Judge Vote] ". "Washington Post". October 7, 1999.] The nomination failed in a party-line vote in the full Senate. Ashcroft's opposition to White came back to haunt him both in the 2000 Senate election (which he narrowly lost for a variety of reasons) and during his confirmation hearings when he was appointed Attorney General.

White is currently practicing law as a partner in the law firm Holloran, White & Schwarz.

References

External links

* [http://www.courts.mo.gov/page.asp?id=204 Judge Ronnie White] on the Missouri Supreme Court website