Nomination of Terrence Boyle to the US Court of Appeals

Nomination of Terrence Boyle to the US Court of Appeals

Dear JFA Readers:

The following letter was published in The Washington Post on
Saturday, March 25, 2006, in response to an op-ed column by
Robert Novak concerning the nomination of Terrence W. Boyle to
the US Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit. AAPD opposed this
nomination. More information is available on our website
www.aapd.com regarding the Boyle nomination.
______________________________________________________________


A Nominee's Liabilities
Saturday, March 25, 2006

In his March 16 op-ed column, Robert D. Novak argued that Judge 
Terrence W. Boyle deserves a prompt Senate confirmation vote to 
the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit in part because 
"his only liability is that he is a conservative who spent a 
year on Sen. Jesse Helms's staff."

Here are other liabilities, from the perspective of civil 
rights litigants who might have to rely on Mr. Boyle for 
justice:

* His lower court decisions have been reversed or criticized
  on appeal more than 150 times, often for "plain error," which
  the conservative 4th Circuit defines as error so severe and
  obvious that it goes to the heart of the "fairness, integrity
  or public reputation" of court proceedings.

* He has yet to rule in favor of a plaintiff under the
  Americans with Disabilities Act in a published ruling since
  the act took effect in 1991.

* He was chastised by the 4th Circuit in a review of his ruling
  for his "misguided" approach to "reasonable accommodation"
  provisions of the ADA.

For these and other reasons, he is vigorously opposed by law 
enforcement and other first responders as well as by disability 
and civil rights advocates. If these don't count as liabilities 
for a nominee to a lifetime appointment to a federal appeals 
court, what does?

Andrew J. Imparato
President and Chief Executive
American Association of People with Disabilities
Washington, DC
 
______________________________________________________________

For more Judicial Nominations news listings, go to:
www.aapd.com/News/judicial/indexjudicial.php

# # #

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