Civil Rights Coalition Calls Boyle Unfit, Opposes Confirmation

The Leadership Conference on Civil Rights (LCCR), the nation’s oldest, largest and most diverse civil and human rights coalition, today announced its opposition to the confirmation of Terrence Boyle to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. LCCR also joined a coalition of civil rights, human rights, labor and women’s organizations calling for the full, immediate disclosure of Judge Boyle’s unpublished District Court opinions.

“Judge Boyle is not fit to serve on the Fourth Circuit,” said LCCR Executive Director Wade Henderson. “Judge Boyle has not only demonstrated a sustained hostility to civil rights, he has misinterpreted, misapplied or simply ignored the law and legal precedent. As a result, the Fourth Circuit, the most conservative appellate court, has reversed Judge Boyle more than 150 times.”

Judge Boyle has handed down some of the most discriminatory rulings in recent memory. He has repeatedly promoted “states’ rights” at the expense of federally protected civil rights. He has attacked laws protecting individual rights and liberties. He has assailed the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and has a troubling history of denying voting rights.

LCCR called on the Senate Judiciary Committee to provide the Senate and the public with Judge Boyle’s complete record of opinions. “What is already on the record is bad enough, but the Senate and the American people have a right to know his entire record of performance on the bench,” said Henderson.

“Judge Boyle’s judicial record of hostility to the rights of Americans is exceeded only by the breadth of his incompetence. He does not deserve a lifetime appointment to any court, much less one as important as the Fourth Circuit,” continued Henderson.

“The Fourth Circuit has one of the fastest growing Latino populations and is home to more African Americans than any other circuit court. The residents of North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia and Maryland, who live under the jurisdiction of the Fourth Circuit, deserve better judicial representation,” commented LCCR Deputy Director Nancy Zirkin.

“Promoting Judge Boyle’s atrocious record by elevating him to the Fourth Circuit would deal a devastating blow to civil rights jurisprudence,” said Zirkin. “It’s no surprise that he was a protégé of former Senator Jesse Helms, who virtually stood in the courthouse door of the Fourth Circuit, doing everything in his power to block the desegregation of the last all-white circuit in the country.”