While any federal judge nominee may expect a rough time in today’s hyperpartisan atmosphere, Georgia Court of Appeals Judge William “Billy” Ray II—tapped last week by President Donald Trump for the U.S. District Court for Georgia’s Northern District—will come to the Senate with a reputation for working across the aisle.
As a member of the then-minority Republican caucus in the Georgia Senate during the 1990s, Ray was known as an affable and effective lawmaker able to work with Democrats to craft and pass legislation. One example: his sponsorship of “Heidi’s Law,” a multipronged bill that tightened penalties for repeat drunken drivers.
