Ruling today on Va. neo-Nazi

ROANOKE -- A ruling is expected today on whether an avowed white supremacist who has been jailed for nearly a year will remain behind bars.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Michael Urbanski scheduled a hearing on whether to allow William A. White to be released on bond.

White faces charges in Virginia of threatening a syndicated newspaper columnist, a New Jersey mayor and several other people by e-mail, telephone or online.

He was arrested last October on a charge of encouraging violence against the foreman of a Chicago jury that convicted a fellow white supremacist.

A Chicago judge dismissed that charge in July on First Amendment grounds, and White was returned to Virginia.

White is the self-styled leader of the Roanoke-based American National Socialist Workers Party.

-- The Associated Press