Rhode Island's two senators announced Monday they have recommended a state superior court judge as their pick for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit.
O. Rogeriee Thompson would be the first African American judge to serve on the First Circuit, according to the Providence Journal.
Thompson has already been something of a pioneer during her 21 years as a state judge. She was the first African American woman to serve on both Rhode Island's District and Superior Courts.
"Imagine what it feels like to walk out on that bench as an African-American woman," Thompson told an audience at her alma mater, Brown University, in 1999. "I look to my right and see a white clerk and white sheriffs. I am the only person of color in the entire courtroom -- until they open the cellblock and bring in 14 people in chains and manacles. Thirteen of them are black."
The First Circuit seat has been vacant since Bruce M. Selya took senior status at the end of 2006. Democrats sat on the 2007 nomination of William E. Smith, a Rhode Island District Court judge, for the seat.
![[RSS]](http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/templates/images/rss_icon.gif){kind=icon}
Subscribe to RSS feed![[ARCHIVES]](http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/templates/images/archives_icon.png){kind=icon}
Archives
Post A Comment