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Roger Gregory
Gregory in 2012
Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
In office July 8, 2016 – July 8, 2023
Preceded by	William Byrd Traxler Jr.
Succeeded by	Albert Diaz
Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
Incumbent
Assumed office December 27, 2000
Appointed by	Bill Clinton (recess) George W. Bush (commission)
Preceded by	Seat established by 104 Stat. 5089
Personal details
Born	(1953-07-17) July 17, 1953 (age 71) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Education	Virginia State University (BA) University of Michigan (JD)

Roger Lee Gregory (born July 17, 1953) is an American lawyer who serves as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.

Background

Gregory was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania but grew up in Petersburg, Virginia. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree summa cum laude from Virginia State University in 1975 and his Juris Doctor from the University of Michigan Law School in 1978. He worked as an associate for Butzel Long and Hunton & Williams from 1978 until 1982. He co-founded the Richmond, Virginia law firm of Wilder & Gregory in 1982 with L. Douglas Wilder (the first African-American to be elected governor in the United States), and became the chair of its litigation section in 1985. Gregory is also a member of several fraternal organizations, including Omega Psi Phi fraternity, and Sigma Pi Phi fraternity.

Federal judicial service

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 a recess appointment, which would have lasted only until the end of the 2001 Congressional session. However, he was renominated by newly elected President George W. Bush on May 9, 2001.

The Senate confirmed Gregory on July 20, 2001, by a 93–1 vote, with 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. He received his commission on July 25, 2001. Gregory became chief judge on July 8, 2016. and served a seven-year-term through July 8, 2023.

Notable opinions

On July 28, 2014, Gregory joined the majority opinion with Henry F. Floyd in Bostic v. Schaefer that declared Virginia's ban on same-sex marriage unconstitutional. This decision led to the legalization of same-sex marriage in Virginia as well as all other states throughout the Fourth Circuit.

On May 25, 2017, Gregory wrote for the majority when the en banc circuit upheld a lower court's injunction blocking the President's travel ban by a 10-3 vote in Int'l Refugee Assistance Project v. Trump.

In October 2017, Gregory dissented when the panel majority found that the Bladensburg Peace Cross memorial from World War I now violated the Constitution's Establishment Clause, and he wrote another dissent when the circuit denied rehearing en banc. The circuit's judgement was then reversed by the Supreme Court of the United States in American Legion v. American Humanist Association (2019).

See also

• Bill Clinton judicial appointment controversies
• George W. Bush judicial appointment controversies
• List of African-American federal judges
• List of African-American jurists
• List of first minority male lawyers and judges in the United States
• List of first minority male lawyers and judges in Virginia

References

1. U.S. Senate (2001). Hearings Before the Committee on the Judiciary, United States Senate, One Hundred Seventh Congress, First Session.
2. ^ Porter, Mike (2006-05-05). "VCU Lauds the Hon. Roger L. Gregory for Public Service". Virginia Commonwealth University. Retrieved 2008-11-15.
3. "Pres. Nom. 1129". 106th Cong. (2000).
4. "On the Nomination (Confirmation: Roger L. Gregory, of Virginia, to be U.S. Circuit Judge for the Fourth Circuit)". senate.gov.
5. Mitchell, Alison (21 July 2001). "Senators Confirm 3 Judges, Including Once-Stalled Black". The New York Times. Retrieved 19 March 2020.
6. Roger Gregory at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a publication of the Federal Judicial Center.
7. "Judge Roger L. Gregory will become the next chief judge of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals". The Associated Press. Daily Reporter. July 5, 2016. Retrieved July 7, 2016.
8. Adam Liptak (26 May 2017). "Appeals Court Will Not Reinstate Trump's Revised Travel Ban". The New York Times. p. A1. Retrieved 28 May 2017.
9. "United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit" (PDF).
10. Am. Humanist Ass’n v. Md.-Nat’l Capital Park & Planning Comm’n, 874 F.3d 195 (4th Cir. 2017).
11. Am. Humanist Ass’n v. Md.-Nat’l Capital Park & Planning Comm’n, 891 F.3d 117 (4th Cir. 2018) (mem.).
12. Note, Recent Case: En Banc Fourth Circuit Denies Rehearing of Holding that Cross-Shaped World War I Memorial Violates Establishment Clause, 132 Harv. L. Rev. 1353 (2019).
13. Note, The Supreme Court, 2018 Term — Leading Cases, 133 Harv. L. Rev. 262 (2019).

External links

• Roger Gregory at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a publication of the Federal Judicial Center.
• Appearances on C-SPAN
• New York Times article discussing Clinton's recess appointment.
• National Review article discussing Bush re-nomination of Gregory.

• 1953 births
• 21st-century American judges
• 21st-century African-American lawyers
• 21st-century American lawyers
• African-American judges
• Judges of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
• Living people
• People associated with Hunton Andrews Kurth
• People from Petersburg, Virginia
• Lawyers from Philadelphia
• Recess appointments
• United States court of appeals judges appointed by Bill Clinton
• United States court of appeals judges appointed by George W. Bush
• University of Michigan Law School alumni
• Virginia lawyers
• Virginia State University alumni