Charles Pickering, Sr., 2002 News

trial judge, was denied a promotion to a seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit by the Senate Judiciary Committee in March. Democrats, who hold a majority on the committee, banded together to thwart President Bush's first judicial nomination. They cited Pickering's decisions on racial issues in his 11 years as a judge in Hattiesburg, Miss., and also sought to discourage Bush from stacking courts with conservatives.