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Interresting Read on "Your Highness Judge Boyle"
Posted By: Rick Caton
Date: Sunday, 2-26-12, at 9:05 a.m.
Statement By Senator Dianne Feinstein
on the Nomination of Terrence Boyle
Judiciary Committee Executive Business Meeting
Washington, DC – U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) today opposed the nomination of Judge Terrence Boyle to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals. The following is Senator Feinstein’s statement, portions of which were delivered in committee, and the remainder was entered into the record:
“Thank you Mr. Chairman. I appreciate your courtesy in holding the nomination over to this week. Given your flexibility, I will try to limit my remarks on the nomination of Judge Terrence Boyle. Judge Boyle is a long-serving federal district court judge in North Carolina, and is in fact the Chief Judge of the Eastern District of North Carolina.
Looking at the decisions that Judge Boyle has rendered in the District Court, I cannot support elevating him to a lifetime appointment to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals. Judge Boyle’s decisions and his frequent reversals by higher courts, including the court he is being nominated to, reveal that he is an activist judge whose strong “states’ rights” views have made it difficult for many individuals to receive fair treatment when they seek to vindicate their civil rights in his courtroom.
In fact, many individuals never have their day in court because of Judge Boyle’s tendency to dismiss civil rights cases before the facts are even presented.
Given Judge Boyle’s hostility towards civil rights and his willingness to substitute his personal beliefs for the law, I am concerned that Judge Boyle is particularly ill-suited to sit on the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals.
The Fourth Circuit is the Court of last resort for most people whose cases come before it. And, the Fourth Circuit is home to a higher percentage of African-American and minority residents than any other Circuit Court. (Associated Press, “Despite Appointment Judge Still Not on 4th Circuit,” September 21, 2000.) About 22% of Fourth Circuit residents are African-American. (Raleigh News & Observer, Boyle Unlikely to Get Easy Nod, May 10, 2001.)
People need to know that, regardless of their background, religion, race, or gender, when they enter a courtroom they will receive fair treatment and that the Judge will apply the law as it is written. Confirming a judge with Judge Boyle record on civil rights, particularly, in a Circuit where more of its citizens are likely to be disenfranchised by Judge Boyle’s decisions, sends the wrong message.
Numerous organizations advocating minority rights and equal opportunity have called and written me to voice their strong opposition to Judge Boyle’s nomination. The NAACP stated that “if Judge Boyle were confirmed his views would jeopardize the civil rights and liberties of African Americans and other racial and ethnic minorities.”
The Black Leadership Forum, a confederation of many of the nation’s leading civil rights organizations, said that elevating Judge Boyle to the Fourth Circuit “would be a stinging insult to all Americans, and especially African Americans.”
Looking at Judge Boyle’s decisions, I appreciate these concerns.
I do not lightly conclude that Judge Boyle is a judicial activist hostile to the federal civil rights laws that protect Americans from discrimination. It is a conclusion reached after reading numerous decisions by Judge Boyle and reading numerous decisions reversing Judge Boyle that were written by appellate court judges on the Fourth Circuit and Supreme Court.
As a District Court Judge, Judge Boyle has had a strikingly high number of his decisions overturned by the Fourth Circuit – the Court to which he is now seeking confirmation. In fact, Judge Boyle’s reversal rate is twice as high as any other District Court Judge nominated by President Bush to a Court of Appeals.
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