North Carolina NAACP, North Carolina’s Urban League Affiliates, Rep. Mel Watt & Leadership Conference on Civil Rights Call on Senators to Oppose Boyle Nomination

Media 04.11.05

Charlotte, NC – Citing his sustained hostility to civil rights, today the North Carolina NAACP and the Urban League affiliates in North Carolina (Raleigh, Charlotte, Winston-Salem) joined with Congressman Mel Watt (D-NC) and the executive director of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, Wade Henderson, to call on senators to reject the confirmation of Judge Terrence Boyle to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.

“We stand here today, unified in our opposition to Judge Terrence Boyle, because he does not deserve a lifetime appointment to any court, much less one as important as the Fourth Circuit,” said Melvin “Skip” Alston, the president of the North Carolina NAACP. “As the President of the North Carolina Conference of our nation’s oldest and largest civil rights organization, I stand here today to represent the united voices of our membership in North Carolina’s 109 branches to voice our strong opposition to the elevation of Terrence Boyle. Quite frankly, the NC NAACP believes that a vote in favor of Terrence Boyle’s confirmation is a vote against civil rights.”

As a North Carolina District Court Judge, Boyle has handed down some of the most hostile civil rights rulings in recent memory. He has repeatedly advocated “states’ rights” at the expense of federal authority to protect civil rights and has attacked Title VII which defends workers from discrimination on the basis of race, sex, religion, and national origin.

“As the President and CEO of an organization which represents North Carolina’s African American population, it is clear to me that Judge Boyle’s record is drastically out of step with my constituency’s values, and out of touch with the needs of the residents who live in the Fourth Circuit,” said Keith Sutton, the executive director of the Triangle Urban League. “His decisions display an astonishing disregard for the law and the rights of people he took an oath to protect. It is unconscionable that he is even being considered for a promotion to our nation’s second highest court. We are vehemently opposed to his nomination and we urge all Senators to reject his confirmation. There is no room for someone like Terrence Boyle on the federal bench.”

Judge Boyle has an astonishingly high rate of reversal. He has repeatedly been reversed by the appellate courts, and even the Supreme Court, for committing “plain error” and other fundamental legal mistakes. The 4th Circuit Court of Appeals – the very court to which Boyle has been nominated and widely regarded as the most conservative appellate court in the country- has reversed his rulings more than 150 times, which is twice the rate of an average judge.

“Judge Boyle’s judicial record of hostility to the rights of Americans is exceeded only by his flagrant disregard for established principles of law and precedent,” said Wade Henderson, the executive director of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights (LCCR), the nation’s oldest, largest and most diverse civil and human rights coalition. “His elevation to the Court of Appeals would be a perverse reward for what is either a blatant disregard of the law, or fundamental incompetence.”

The Fourth Circuit includes North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia and Maryland. It is home to more African Americans than any other circuit court, and has one of the fastest growing Latino populations.

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Terrence Boyle, Nominee to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit



  • The 4th Circuit Court of Appeals has more African Americans living within its boundaries than any other appellate circuit, and has one of the fastest growing Latino populations. The 4th Circuit Court is essentially the court of last resort for people in North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, and Maryland.


  • Boyle has repeatedly promoted “states’ rights” at the expense of individuals’ federally protected civil rights. During his confirmation to the District Court in 1984, Boyle posited that “the states are the reservoir of general jurisdiction and sovereignty,” and that the federal courts are of limited jurisdiction.


  • Boyle’s record on the District Court includes many examples of shielding the state from civil rights lawsuits. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 protects individuals against employment discrimination on the bases of race and color, as well as national origin, sex, and religion. But in Ellis v. State of North Carolina, Boyle invoked sovereign immunity in ruling that an African American could not sue her state employer under Title VII. The Fourth Circuit ruled that Boyle was wrong to dismiss the case.


  • The vast majority of Boyle’s district court opinions have not been made public. In his twenty years on the bench, Boyle has decided between 11,000 and 12,000 district court cases. However, only 400 of these opinions have been published.


  • The appellate courts have repeatedly reversed Boyle’s decisions on the basis of “plain error” and other fundamental legal mistakes. The 4th Circuit Court of Appeals – the very court to which Boyle has been nominated – has reversed his rulings more than 150 times.


  • Terrence Boyle is a protégé of former Senator Jesse Helms, who has said that Boyle shares his conservative ideology. During Boyle’s confirmation to the District Court, Senator Helms assured then-Judiciary Committee Chairman Strom Thurmond that Boyle “wholeheartedly shares your deeply held views, and those of President Reagan, on the proper of the federal judiciary in our system of government.”