Arkansan to be first black chief judge on 8th circuit court

     (AP) – A Hope, Arkansas, native is to become the first black
chief judge of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
     Judge Lavenski Smith, now of Little Rock, is to become chief judge of the St.
Louis-based on March 11. He succeeds Judge William Jay Riley, whose seven-year
term as chief judge is expiring.
     The 58-year-old Smith was appointed in 2001 by then-President George W. Bush
to the court that hears appeals from Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, South
Dakota, North Dakota and Minnesota.
     Smith was in Washington last week for orientation and told the Arkansas
Democrat-Gazette that he met with people ranging from information technologists
to budgeting.
     Court clerk Michael Gans said the position is routinely passed on to the next
most-senior judge on the court who is 65 or younger.