The VLW Blog

Richmond lawyer E. Duncan Getchell Jr. has acknowledged the obvious and asked President George W. Bush to withdraw his nomination to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Bush nominated Getchell in September to fill the vacancy created by the death of Judge H. Emory Widener Jr., but he was not among candidates recommended jointly for the seat by the state’s two senators, Republican John Warner and Democrat Jim Webb.

Webb immediately said he would not support Getchell, and it was clear that he would not get a hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee because Democrats have a majority in the Senate.

Getchell sent the White House a letter Thursday asking that the President pull his name.

The Richmond Times-Dispatch has the details.

The idea of naming the new federal courthouse in downtown Richmond after Judges Spottswood W. Robinson III and Robert R. Merhige Jr. has been circulating for about two years, with a push from local bar groups.

Last October, Sens. John Warner and George Allen introduced legislation to secure the name, but it went nowhere.

Allen lost his seat to now-Sen. Jim Webb.

Warner’s office has issued a press release with much ballyhoo that he will introduce a bill next week to name the courthouse for Robinson, who served on the D.C. Circuit, and Merhige, a longtime U.S. District judge in Richmond.

The release doesn’t mention Allen or the failed prior effort. But it does tout that Webb has signed on. Warner and Webb have worked together on judicial nominees for the Old Dominion, with mixed success and cooperation from the White House. Stay tuned to see if they can jog their colleagues into passing the name bill.