Justice Department: The nomination of Ralph Boyd, Jr., to be assistant attorney general for civil rights is expected to sail through the Senate. Boyd is a nonideological figure who comes with no track record on civil rights issues.
Democrats have already criticized Boyd’s scanty civil rights record. That was the chief objection that sank the nomination of William Lucas, the black nominee of former President George Bush. But Bush aides and congressional Republicans consider the absence of a paper trail on Boyd a significant asset.
Sources say that Boyd will be a "soldier, not a general" in enforcing civil rights law. He has not taken aggressive stances on high-profile issues such as racial quotas and preferences. Many expect controversial civil rights policy will be directed from the White House.
Boyd, a partner with the Boston law firm of Goodwin Proctor, served as assistant U.S. attorney in Massachusetts from 1991 to 1997. He is known as a tough litigator who aggressively prosecuted gun crimes. He administered Operation Triggerlock, the Justice Department’s national firearms-prosecution initiative.
Maybe this is a go-through-the-motions kind of deal. Boyd also doesn't like US Commission on Civil Rights chief Berry.
Earlier this year, Boyd agreed to Adam's Mark Hotels' request to consider an early out to anti-discrimination monitoring that was the result of a settlement between the company and the government. The president of the company withdrew the request after it was noted that he donated to Ashcroft's past campaigns and attended Ashcroft's daughter's wedding.
Boyd has also spoken to 135 new Massachusetts Eagle Scouts at their recognition banquet this year.
His father founded the Schenectady, N.Y. NAACP, but Boyd himself has not joined the debate on issues of race at all.
He gained a reputation as a hard-nosed prosecutor, who often sent young black and Hispanic men to prison on gun and gang charges, and is credited with helping to reduce significantly Boston's crime rate during the past decade.
Boyd was outspoken in his view that former President Bill Clinton should have been prosecuted for obstruction of justice.
It's also useful to recall Clintoon choices for this post and compare them to Boyd-- Lani Guinier and Bill Lann Lee.