He was portrayed as anti-labor and anti-black, although on the appeals bench in later years he turned out to be neither.

Wood left the Superior Court on September 5, 1935 upon his appointment to the appeals bench.

He was a judge on the United States district court for the Southern District of New York before joining the federal appeals bench.

When the tribunal's appeals bench announced that it had upheld the death sentences on Dec. 26, three weeks into the appeal, even prosecutors were stunned.

"Tom, all of the judges on the list have been through that process already, and since then all have sat on the appeals bench for a minimum often years."

He resigned from the common pleas bench on January 1, 2001, to take the appeals bench.

President Clinton nominated Judge Sarokin to the appeals bench two years ago.

Mr. Kavanaugh, at 38, would be one of the youngest members of the federal appeals bench.

As only Senator Jesse Helms would remember, the last president to name a Republican from his state to the federal appeals bench was Calvin Coolidge.

Miss Chambers has petitioned for a hearing by the full appeals bench.