President Barack Obama has nominated Roy Wallace McLeese III, a long-serving attorney in the United States Attorney’s office in Washington, D.C., to serve on the District of Columbia Court of Appeals, the capital’s equivalent of a state supreme court.
The White House announced the President’s decision to name McLeese on Thursday.
“Throughout his career, Roy Wallace McLeese III has shown unwavering integrity and an outstanding commitment to public service,” the President said in a news release. “I am proud to nominate him to serve on the District of Columbia Court of Appeals.”
McLeese is currently head of the appellate division for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Washington, where he served as a Deputy Chief from 1990 until 2005.
McLeese also served as an assistant to the Solicitor General from 1997 until 1999, and was briefly Acting Deputy Solicitor General.
After graduating from New York University School of Law, McLeese served as a law clerk for Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia and while Scalia was a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
If his nomination is approved, McLeese will fill the vacancy left by Judge Vanessa Ruiz, a Clinton appointee who retired in August.
