Judge Nominee Asks His Name Be Withdrawn

Jefferson Sessions III, whose nomination to the federal bench in Alabama was rejected by the Senate Judiciary Committee, asked the White House Wednesday to withdraw his name from further consideration.

The letters to President Reagan and Sen. Jeremiah Denton (R-Ala.), the man who recommended him for the post, formally ends efforts to appoint Sessions, 39, to a federal judgeship for the southern district of Alabama.

There had been speculation that despite the defeat in committee, Denton might try to force the nomination on the Senate floor, a tactic that was considered unlikely to succeed.

Sessions, the U.S. attorney in Mobile, Ala., since 1981, said in a telephone interview that his letters were intended to thank Reagan and Denton for their support and to officially end his nomination.

Sessions’ nomination had been met with charges that he improperly prosecuted three civil rights leaders in Alabama for alleged voter fraud and that he made several racially insensitive remarks.

In June, the Judiciary Committee refused to recommend that Sessions be approved and defeated a motion to send his nomination to the floor without a recommendation.

The defeat marked the first time a judicial nominee had been rejected by the panel during the Reagan Administration.