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December 6, 2007

Bush nominates Rhode Islander to federal appeals court

President Bush's nomination of Judge William E. Smith to the First U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is headed to the U.S. Senate, the White House announced today.

The nomination is to fill the vacancy caused by the retirement of Judge Bruce M. Selya, who stepped down from full-time service on the bench in December 2006.

Smith has been a U.S. District Court judge since the Senate confirmed him for that post in December 2002. Journal articles described him at the time as a Providence labor lawyer who was a longtime friend and political associate of then-Sen. Lincoln D. Chafee, for whom he served as staff director.

Born Dec. 31, 1959, in Boise, Idaho, Smith is married with two children. He holds a bachelor's degree and a law degree from Georgetown University.

He was admitted to the bar in Rhode Island in 1987. He was a lawyer at Edwards & Angell in Providence from 1987 to 2002. He served as Warwick city solicitor, counsel to the Rhode Island Office of Secretary of State and has been an adjunct faculty member at various times at Providence College, Bryant College and currently at Roger Williams University School of Law in Bristol.

Last month, the president nominated Magistrate Lincoln D. Almond, son of former Gov. Lincoln C. Almond, to become a U.S. District Court judge in Providence. The nomination is to replace retired U.S. District Court Judge Ernest C. Torres.

-- projo.com staff writer Michael P. McKinney

Posted by Mike McKinney  at 6:35 PM | Permalink

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