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From The Roanoke Times

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RICHMOND -- Virginia Supreme Court Justice Steven Agee of Salem was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on Tuesday for a seat on the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, breaking through a legislative logjam that has slowed appointments to the Richmond-based court.

The Senate voted 96-0 to confirm Agee, just two months after President Bush nominated him for the bench. Agee had the support of his home-state senators, Republican John Warner and Democrat Jim Webb, who had included Agee on a list of five recommended candidates they submitted to the White House last year.

Agee said he was "honored and humbled" by the unanimous vote for his confirmation.

"I thank President Bush for nominating me, and I want to express my deep appreciation to Senator Warner and Senator Webb," for their support throughout the nomination and confirmation process, Agee said in a brief phone interview.

Agee will fill one of five vacancies on the 15-member court, which hears cases from federal courts in Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina and South Carolina. Agee will fill the seat vacated by the 2006 resignation of Judge Michael Luttig.

"Justice Agee is a man of integrity who is respected for his sound legal judgment and commitment to equal justice for all Americans," Bush said in a White House news release. "His work on the Supreme Court of Virginia and the Virginia Court of Appeals demonstrates that his rulings are based on the letter of the law. I am confident that he will serve on the Fourth Circuit with the same level of dedication and professionalism."

Agee, 55, joined the Virginia Supreme Court in 2003 after serving two years on the Virginia Court of Appeals. He served 12 years in the House of Delegates and made an unsuccessful bid for the Republican nomination for state attorney general in 1993.

Warner said Agee's qualifications "are as impressive as any circuit court nominee for whom I have voted in my 30 years in the Senate."

Webb called Agee "a jurist who has served Virginia honorably with superior intellect and judicial temperament."

Agee is one of two Roanoke Valley judges that Bush nominated for vacancies on the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals, which is considered to be one of the most conservative federal appellate courts in the country. U.S. District Court Judge Glen Conrad of Roanoke was nominated for a seat on the appellate court earlier this month. Conrad also has the backing of Warner and Webb.

The two Virginia senators have worked together in what they described as an extensive search for qualified lawyers and judges for the appellate bench. Bush had initially bypassed the Virginia senators' recommendations and nominated Richmond lawyer Duncan Getchell Jr. for the 4th Circuit Court seat that ultimately went to Agee. Getchell withdrew from consideration in January when it became clear he would not be confirmed. Bush nominated Agee in March.

"This is, I think, a very clear manifestation of how two senators from different parties come together and find that candidate that they judge to be eminently qualified," Warner said in a Senate floor speech.

Webb said Agee's confirmation "should serve as a model of how to present and confirm judicial nominations in the future."

Agee's move to the federal bench will create a vacancy on the seven-member Virginia Supreme Court. And it will end a brief era in which Salem had two residents on the court -- Agee and Justice Lawrence Koontz.

Gov. Tim Kaine likely will make a recess appointment that would have to be confirmed by the General Assembly, which has the final say on judicial vacancies. It is unlikely that lawmakers will fill the Supreme Court vacancy during a special session scheduled for next month, said House Majority Leader Morgan Griffith, R-Salem.

A Kaine spokesman said Tuesday that the governor's staff will solicit input from bar associations and review candidates before making recommendations to the governor. Kaine last year named Bernard Goodwyn of Chesapeake to the court while the General Assembly was out of session. Lawmakers approved the appointment earlier this year.