Terrence William Boyle (born December 22, 1945) is a

United States district judge The United States district courts are the trial courts of the U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each federal judicial district, which each cover one U.S. state or, in some cases, a portion of a state. Each district cou ...

of the

United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina The United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina (in case citations, E.D.N.C.) is the United States district court that serves the eastern 44 counties in North Carolina. Appeals from the Eastern District of North Caroli ...

. He was Chief Judge of that court from 1997 to 2004. He served a second term as Chief Judge from 2018 to 2021. From 1991 to 1993 and again from 2001 to 2007, he was a nominee to the

United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit (in case citations, 4th Cir.) is a federal court located in Richmond, Virginia, with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts: * District of Maryland ...

. His federal appellate nomination from 2001 to 2007 is the longest in history not to be acted upon by the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

Education and career

Born in

Passaic Passaic ( or ) is a city in Passaic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the city had a total population of 70,537, ranking as the 16th largest municipality in New Jersey and an increase of 656 from the 69,7 ...

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

, Boyle received a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...

degree from Brown University in 1967 and a Juris Doctor from the

Washington College of Law The American University Washington College of Law (AUWCL or WCL) is the law school of American University, a private research university in Washington, D.C. It is located on the western side of Tenley Circle in the Tenleytown section of nort ...

at American University in 1970. From 1970 to 1973, he was the minority counsel of the Housing Subcommittee of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Banking and Currency. In 1973, he was a legislative assistant to Republican Senator Jesse Helms of

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...

. He was in private practice in

Elizabeth City Elizabeth City is a city in Pasquotank County, North Carolina, United States. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 18,629. Elizabeth City is the county seat and largest city of Pasquotank County. It is the cultural, economic and educ ...

, North Carolina from 1974 to 1984.

Federal judicial service

Boyle was nominated by President Ronald Reagan on April 4, 1984, to a seat on the

vacated by Judge Franklin Taylor Dupree Jr. He was confirmed by the

on April 24, 1984, and received commission on May 3, 1984. He served as Chief Judge from 1997 to 2004. He served as Chief Judge once again from 2018 to 2021.

First Fourth Circuit nomination

On October 22, 1991, Boyle was nominated by US President George H. W. Bush to a newly-created seat on the

, but his nomination was not acted upon by the Senate, which was controlled by the Democrats. His nomination was allowed to lapse at the end of Bush's presidency.

Fourth Circuit controversies

On December 24, 1995, in the hope of integrating the Fourth Circuit, US President

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...

nominated James A. Beaty Jr., an African-American judge of the

United States District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina The United States District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina (in case citations, M.D.N.C.) is a United States district court with jurisdiction over 24 counties in the center of North Carolina. It consists of five divisions with a ...

, to a Fourth Circuit seat vacated by Judge James Dickson Phillips Jr. in 1994, when he took

senior status Senior status is a form of semi- retirement for United States federal judges. To qualify, a judge in the federal court system must be at least 65 years old, and the sum of the judge's age and years of service as a federal judge must be at leas ...

. Almost immediately, Beaty's nomination ran into opposition from Jesse Helms, who was angry that Clinton had refused to renominate Boyle to the Fourth Circuit. Beaty's nomination was ultimately unsuccessful because of Helms's opposition. On May 9, 2001, Boyle was renominated by President

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

to the Fourth Circuit, this time to the seat vacated by Phillips Jr, but his nomination was never brought to a vote on the floor of the Senate. For over five years, the nomination was stalled, the longest federal appeals court nomination that was never given a full Senate vote. His nomination was adamantly opposed by the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

from the beginning. Democratic Senator

John Edwards Johnny Reid Edwards (born June 10, 1953) is an American lawyer and former politician who served as a U.S. senator from North Carolina. He was the Democratic nominee for vice president in 2004 alongside John Kerry, losing to incumbents George ...

claimed Boyle was an opponent of

civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life o ...

and disabilities legislation. Boyle's supporters viewed him as the victim of political payback and obstruction because of his ties to Helms, who had derailed several judicial nominations by Clinton because of Boyle. In March 2005, after Bush's re-election and an increased Republican Party Senate majority, the

Senate Judiciary Committee The United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, informally the Senate Judiciary Committee, is a standing committee of 22 U.S. senators whose role is to oversee the Department of Justice (DOJ), consider executive and judicial nominations ...

gave Boyle a hearing, almost a full four years after his nomination. On June 16, 2005, Boyle was voted out of Committee on a 10-8 party line vote. In April 2006, Senate Majority Leader

Bill Frist William Harrison Frist (born February 22, 1952) is an American physician, businessman, and politician who served as a United States Senator from Tennessee from 1995 to 2007. A member of the Republican Party, he also served as Senate Majority Lea ...

said he would try to schedule a vote in May on the nomination of Boyle. No vote occurred, however; with the Democrats taking over the US Senate in the

110th Congress The 110th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, between January 3, 2007, and January 3, 2009, during the last two years of the Presidency of George W. Bush. It was composed of ...

, Boyle's confirmation chances markedly decreased. On January 9, 2007, the White House announced that it would not renominate Boyle. At the time, Boyle clearly stated he did not voluntarily withdraw his nomination.www.newsobserver.com
. On July 17, 2007, US President

nominated United States District Court Judge Robert J. Conrad, to the Phillips seat; Conrad's nomination was also unsuccessful.

References

External links