Ronnie Lee White (born May 31, 1953) is a former United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri and a former

Missouri Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Missouri is the highest court in the state of Missouri. It was established in 1820 and is located at 207 West High Street in Jefferson City, Missouri. Missouri voters have approved changes in the state's constitution to give ...

judge.

Education and legal career

White received an

Associate of Arts An associate degree is an undergraduate degree awarded after a course of post-secondary study lasting two to three years. It is a level of qualification above a high school diploma, GED, or matriculation, and below a bachelor's degree. The fi ...

degree from

St. Louis Community College St. Louis Community College (STLCC) is a public community college in St. Louis, Missouri. It is supported by the Junior College District of St. Louis City – St. Louis County, servicing 718 square miles. History In 1966 STLCC built three cam ...

in 1977 and received a Bachelor of Arts degree from

Saint Louis University Saint Louis University (SLU) is a private Jesuit research university with campuses in St. Louis, Missouri, United States, and Madrid, Spain. Founded in 1818 by Louis William Valentine DuBourg, it is the oldest university west of the Mississip ...

in 1979. He earned a

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

from the University of Missouri–Kansas City in 1983. He worked as a

public defender A public defender is a lawyer appointed to represent people who otherwise cannot reasonably afford to hire a lawyer to defend themselves in a trial. Several countries provide people with public defenders, including the UK, Hungary and Singapore, ...

in St. Louis and an attorney in various other government offices and was elected as a Democratic member of the Missouri House of Representatives, where he served for six years. In 1993, he was appointed as a

City Counselor A city attorney is a position in city and municipal government in the United States. The city attorney is the attorney representing the municipality. Unlike a district attorney or public defender, who usually handles criminal cases, a city a ...

for St. Louis City. In May 1994, Governor Mel Carnahan appointed him a judge for the Eastern District of the

Missouri Court of Appeals The Missouri Court of Appeals is the intermediate appellate court for the state of Missouri. The court handles most of the appeals from the Missouri Circuit Courts. The court is divided into three geographic districts: Eastern (based in St. ...

. Carnahan appointed White to the Supreme Court of Missouri in October 1995. He served as the court's first African-American Chief Justice from 2003 to 2005. White retired from the court on July 6, 2007, and was succeeded by Judge

Patricia Breckenridge Patricia Breckenridge (born October 14, 1953) is a Judge on the Supreme Court of Missouri. She was first appointed to the Court in 2007 and served as chief justice from July 1, 2015, to June 30, 2017. Breckenridge was the fourth woman to be appoi ...

Federal judicial service

First nomination to federal district court

In 1997, President Bill Clinton nominated White for a United States district court seat. White's nomination passed the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, but ran into resistance from then-Senator John Ashcroft in 1999. Ashcroft claimed White was "pro-criminal" due to White's opinions in death penalty cases before the Supreme Court and cited opposition from Missouri police associations that were later discovered to be all-white. Carnahan and other Democrats criticized Republican opposition to the nomination, and it quickly became embroiled with racial overtones and an issue in the United States Senate election in Missouri the following year. On October 5, 1999, the United States Senate rejected White's nomination by a 45–54 vote. Ashcroft's opposition to White hurt him both in the 2000 Senate election, which he narrowly lost for a variety of reasons, and during his confirmation hearings when he was appointed United States Attorney General in 2001.

Second nomination to federal district court

On November 7, 2013, President Barack Obama nominated White to serve on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri. He received a hearing before the

United States Senate Judiciary Committee The United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, informally the Senate Judiciary Committee, is a standing committee of 22 U.S. senators whose role is to oversee the Department of Justice (DOJ), consider executive and judicial nominations, a ...

on May 20, 2014. On June 19, 2014, his nomination was reported out of committee by a 10–8 vote. On July 14, 2014, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid filed a motion to invoke cloture on the nomination. On July 16, 2014, the United States Senate invoked cloture on White's nomination by a 54–43 vote. Later that day, his nomination was confirmed by a 53–44 vote.On the Nomination (Confirmation Ronnie L. White, of Missouri, to be U.S. District Judge for the Eastern District of Missouri)
/ref> He received his judicial commission on July 17, 2014. He retired from active service on July 31, 2024.

References

External links