Obama nominates RI judge for appeals court

PROVIDENCE—President Barack Obama has nominated a Rhode Island judge to serve on a federal appeals court.

Obama on Tuesday nominated O. Rogeriee Thompson for a seat on the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston. The nomination follows the recommendation of Rhode Island’s two Democratic senators, Sheldon Whitehouse and Jack Reed.

Thompson has served since 1997 as a judge on Rhode Island’s Superior Court, the state’s main trial court.

She is the first black woman named to the court and would replace Bruce Selya, who has retired.

Thompson graduated from Brown University in 1973 and earned her law degree from Boston University in 1976. She did not immediately return a call seeking commemt.

The nomination will require Senate confirmation.

The court hears cases from Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire and Puerto Rico.