President Barack Obama is nominating a conservative Alabama Republican for a seat on the U.S. Sentencing Commission.
The Montgomery Advertiser (http://on.mgmadv.com/119Nrj1 ) reports that the White House is supporting U.S. Circuit Judge Bill Pryor for the position.
The 50-year-old Pryor serves on the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals with an office in Birmingham. He's a native of Mobile.
Pryor served as Alabama's attorney general as a Republican. He was nominated to the federal bench in 2004 by then-President George W. Bush.
The sentencing commission is an independent agency that establishes guidelines for sentencing in federal courts.
Pryor would serve a term that expires in 2017. He would replace commissioner William B. Carr, whose term has expired.