ACU Urges Vote on 16-Year-Stalled Judicial Nomination of Terrence Boyle

ALEXANDRIA, VA— The American Conservative Union, the nation's oldest and largest grassroots conservative lobbying organization, today urged Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) to schedule a vote on Judge Terrence Boyle—a decision that has been disgracefully delayed for more than a decade.

In 1991, President George H.W. Bush nominated a judge for a seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit. Democrats and their liberal allies forcefully opposed the nomination, which consequently languished for 10 years. In 2001, President George W. Bush re-nominated the judge. But, again, the left kicked into hysterical overdrive and, for another four years, prevented the senate from simply voting on the nominee.

“Today—16 years later—Judge Terrence Boyle remains in congressional purgatory, wedged between those, like Senator John Edwards, who oppose cloture for unrelated personal reasons, and those, like Senator Frist, who repeatedly postpone cloture,” said ACU executive vice president J. William Lauderback.

“What makes this delay even more offensive,” Lauderback continued, “is that of the 11 people President Bush nominated to the federal bench in 2001, Judge Boyle is the only one who remains unvoted on. He has handled this quagmire with patience and professionalism, as befits a man of his sterling judgment and unimpeachable credentials. Indeed, those who disagree with Judge Boyle, like those with whom he disagreed from the bench, nevertheless respect his reasoning and fairness.”

“To perpetuate this charade signals weakness and resignation,” said Lauderback. “After all, justice delayed is justice denied.”

Since the senate unanimously confirmed him in 1984, Judge Boyle has sat on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina. For seven of these years, from 1997 to 2004, he served as the chief judge of this court; for five of these years, appointed by Chief Justice William Rehnquist, he served on the Judicial Resources Committee, and since 1999, again appointed by Chief Justice Rehnquist, he has served on the Judicial Branch Committee.