Fourteen years after first being nominated to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, controversial US District Court Judge Terrence Boyle will face a vote on the Senate floor. Boyle was first nominated by President George H. W. Bush in 1991, but Democrats blocked the nomination, setting off a chain of events in which former Senator Jesse Helms (R-NC) blocked Clinton-era appointees from North Carolina for eight years. Boyle had previously worked as an aide to Senator Helms. Boyle was voted out of committee on Thursday, meaning his nomination will move to a vote on the Senate floor.
Democrats have said that the party-line committee vote makes a filibuster of Boyle a possibility, although they have not said whether they intend to filibuster this nomination. According to the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, Boyle’s rulings have been overturned by the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals more than 150 times, and he has issued numerous opinions hostile to affirmative action, women’s rights, fair employment, and voting rights. Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) told the Associated Press that he could not see approving the nomination, as “it really appears that he’s not a very good district court judge.”
5/22/2013 Immigration Reform Bill Advances In Senate - Last night, the Senate Judiciary Committee approved a sweeping immigration reform bill in a bipartisan vote of 13 to 5. . . .
5/22/2013 Afghan Women Arrested for 'Moral Crimes' Increases 50% - A new report by the Human Rights Watch shows that in the past 18 months the number of women in Afghanistan incarcerated for 'moral crimes' has increased from 400 to 600, a 50% growth.
Many of the women imprisoned for moral crimes were arrested running away from forced or abusive marriages and families, even though there is no law against leaving. . . .
5/22/2013 Army Commander Suspended for Adultery Amid Wave of Sexual Assaults - On Tuesday, Brigadier General Bryan T Roberts was suspended from his position as commander of the Fort Jackson, South Carolina training camp which trains approximately 60% of incoming female recruits pending an investigation into allegations of adultery.
Roberts was suspended following allegations of "adultery and a physical altercation." Colonel Christian Kubik, an Army spokesperson for the Training and Doctrine Command, told reporters "We don't have any evidence of any sexual assault. . . .
