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555 Dirksen Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Ph: 202.224.6342
Fax: 202.224.1100
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Raleigh Office:
310 New Bern Avenue
Suite 122
Raleigh, NC 27601
Ph: 919.856.4630
Toll Free: 866.420.6083
Fax: 919.856.4053
Salisbury Office:
225 North Main Street
Suite 304
Salisbury, NC 28144
Ph: 704.633.5011
Toll Free: 866.420.6084
Fax: 704.633.2937
Western Office:
401 North Main Street
Suite 200
Hendersonville, NC 28792
Ph: 828.698.3747
Fax: 828.698.1267
Eastern Office:
306 South Evans Street
Greenville, NC 27835
Ph: 252.329.1093
Fax: 252.329.1097
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Articles
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JUDGE BOYLE DESERVES AND UP OR DOWN VOTE NOW
North Carolinian has waited longer for a vote than any other current nominee
Author: Elizabeth Dole
Publication: The Charlotte Observer |
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June 28th, 2006 - The U.S. Constitution requires that the president nominate individuals to serve on the federal judiciary and that the U.S. Senate give its advice and consent on those nominees. This is indeed one of the most important duties of a senator. Yet some on the other side of the aisle have neglected this explicit and critical responsibility. They have dragged their feet—and at times dug in their heels—on confirming qualified judicial nominees. Now they threaten to filibuster Judge Terrence Boyle, a fine North Carolinian, distinguished jurist and dedicated public servant.
Judge Boyle has served with distinction for more than two decades on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina, handling more than 16,000 cases at the trial level with competence and integrity. Judge Boyle also has significant appellate experience, having repeatedly been designated to sit with the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals. In fact, he has authored more than 20 appellate opinions and participated in the decisions of approximately 200 cases argued before that court. The American Bar Association—whose endorsement Democrats hold out as the “gold standard”—examined Judge Boyle’s record and unanimously concluded that he was “well-qualified” for appellate court service.
With no justification for denying Judge Boyle a vote, his opponents have desperately made misleading and frivolous charges against him—for example, claiming that he has been reversed an “alarming” 165 times. But the truth is that Judge Boyle has been reversed less than 100 times in his 22-year judicial career, and his reversal rate of just 6.0 percent is substantially lower than the 8.6 percent national average. These aren’t my numbers—these are objective statistics that were compiled using established criteria from the nonpartisan Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts.
In recent weeks, liberal special interest groups and their media allies have attacked Judge Boyle’s integrity and questioned his judicial independence. The fact, however, is that Judge Boyle has never knowingly heard a case in which he had a conflict of interest, used his office for personal gain, or abused the trust of the people he was appointed to serve. These allegations have emerged at a strategically determined time, in a frantic partisan attempt to distract from the merits of his nomination. Unfortunately, the destructive effects of this conduct extend far beyond one judicial nominee—this negativity and political posturing discourage the best and brightest from public service and prolong vacancies on our courts.
Our federal courts currently have 47 open seats, 21 of which have been declared “judicial emergencies”—including the seat to which Judge Boyle has been nominated. Vacant since July 1994, this seat is the longest federal judicial vacancy in the country, by nearly six years!
Judge Boyle’s confirmation would not only alleviate a judicial emergency, it would also place a second North Carolinian on the Fourth Circuit, where our state—with the largest population in the circuit—has long been underrepresented. While the Senate’s approval of Judge Boyle would not fully remedy this inequity, it would be an important step towards restoring balance to this court.
First nominated nearly 15 years ago, Judge Boyle has waited longer for a vote than any current nominee. Now is the time for the Senate to fulfill its constitutional duty and grant Judge Terrence Boyle an up or down vote.
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