Saturday, May 03, 2008
Justice from Salem asked about all-white club
Steven Agee, a state Supreme Court justice, is being considered for a federal appeals court post.
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From The Roanoke Times
WASHINGTON -- Virginia Supreme Court Justice Steven Agee, on his path to becoming a federal appeals judge, faced questions Thursday from senators about his membership in a whites-only club in Roanoke more than 20 years ago.
Sen. Benjamin Cardin, D-Md., who presided over the 40-minute questioning, asked Agee, "Were you aware the Shenandoah Club discriminated when you joined the club?"
Agee said, "I can't recall if I had specific knowledge of that. Certainly, as time went on it seemed more likely than not that that occurred. After some period of time I resigned."
In a questionnaire, Agee wrote he was a member of the club from 1980 to 1987 and that it "probably discriminated in fact during the time I was a member."
The Shenandoah Club, founded in 1893, allowed only white males before changing policies in 1988, said club manager Beverly Schlegel.
In his testimony, Agee said he resigned from the club for a number of reasons and that "lack of openness to the full community was one of them."
With jurisdiction covering South Carolina through Maryland, the Richmond-based 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has the highest percentage black population of any appeals court in the country.
Cardin cited that population in asking about a 1990 op-ed column Agee wrote in The Roanoke Times critical of a state employment practice that favored minority job applicants.
Agee told the committee his concern was "not so much that the activity was done, but it was done without the knowledge of other parts of government."
Agee, of Salem, was a member of the Virginia House of Delegates from 1982 to 1993.
The Virginia General Assembly elected him to the Virginia Court of Appeals in 2000 and sent him to the state Supreme Court in 2003.
President Bush nominated Agee on March 13 with bipartisan support from both senators from Virginia. The Judiciary Committee is expected to approve Agee's nomination this year.
