President Bush is being called on to renominate Missouri Supreme Court Judge Ronnie White to the federal bench. The request comes in a letter from St. Louis Congressmen Richard Gephardt and Lacy Clay. They would like to see the President appoint White to a vacancy on the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals when a vacancy comes up – and one is expected in April. White had been nominated for a federal judgeship in 1997 by President Bill Clinton, but he was rejected by the Senate at the urging of then-Senator and now Attorney General John Ashcroft, who criticized White’s opinions in death penalty cases.
