Terrence Boyle

In one of the lamest and ill-conceived opinion pieces in years (and that's saying a lot), the News and Observer today weighs in on behalf of Terrence Boyle for the 4th Circuit Court in Richmond.

Boyle is a victim of the increasingly politicized judicial nominating and confirmation process. He became a target for some Democrats who lumped him in with hard ideologues who also were nominees and mounted strong opposition to him. That the nomination has been abandoned is no reflection on the judge's competence. The Bush administration failed to get him through when Republicans held a majority in the Senate. Now that they're in the minority, the White House clearly recognized Boyle's odds were only worse.

Whether Democrats will admit it or not, one of Boyle's sins in their minds was that he once worked for former Sen. Jesse Helms. In allowing that to influence their positions on Boyle, the Democrats were being petty and harshly partisan.

This morning, after two previous failed attempts at promotion to the federal appeals court, Federal District Judge Terrence Boyle of North Carolina smelled the coffee, and ordered tea instead. He submitted a letter to George Bush asking that his nomination be withdrawn.

He was among the four judges considered so extreme in their views by the previous congress that their appointments failed to earn consideration. With a landslide Democratic victory in the last election it became obvious that this congress was not about to try what previous congresses had found impossible.

According to Ralph Neas, president of "People for The American Way," Terence Boyle is "a judicial disaster... and his rulings reflect a judicial philosophy that is very damaging to the rights of average Americans."