In 1991, President George H.W. Bush first nominated Boyle, a U.S. District judge in North Carolina, for a seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit. Liberal groups vigorously opposed him -- as they do now -- saying his rulings have shown a disregard for minorities and disabled people. His nomination languished, and he was renominated in May 2001.

After the Gang of 14 did its dirty work, Boyle passed through the Judiciary Committee. Now he's coming up for a full vote in the Senate. Salon has the most recent report on Boyle's alleged conflicts of interest.

Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont, the ranking Democrat of the Judiciary Committee, blasted Boyle on the floor of the Senate Monday, calling him "somebody who has violated every judicial ethic you can think of."

Back to the WaPo article, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid weighed in yesterday:

"I can't imagine how President Bush could bring him to the Senate for confirmation," Senate Minority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) told reporters yesterday. If GOP leaders insist on a confirmation vote, he said, Democrats "without question" will launch a filibuster.

Here's a summary of the report (pdf) on Judge Boyle prepared by Alliance for Justice. People for the American Way have this report.

As to Kavenaugh, who is being nominated for a seat on the ultra-influential D.C. Court of Appeals, he may be one of the least qualified nominees ever to serve as an appellate judge. According to his DOJ resume, He has never been a judge or a trial lawyer. He's never tried a case. He has been a law clerk numerous times and a Starr deputy during Clinton (after which he became a partner at Starr's firm, Kirkland and Ellis.) He spent a year in the Solicitor General's office and then became associate counsel for Bush. Since 2003, he has been a staff secretary in the White House counsel's office. Democrats want another chance to question him when he comes up for a vote in the Judiciary Committee today. Sen. Specter says he'll consider the request.

Nominated in July 2003, Kavanaugh testified to the committee in April 2004. Democrats say several Bush administration controversies have arisen since -- including mistreatment of foreign detainees, warrantless domestic surveillance and the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal -- and they want to know whether Kavanaugh had a role in them from his post that handles all paperwork entering the Oval Office.

Alliance for Justice has a full report (pdf) on Kavenaugh. It says:

Kavanaugh has less legal experience than nearly every past nominee to the D.C. Circuit, often described as the second most important in the country. When first nominated in 2003, Kavanaugh had been a lawyer for less than thirteen years and had little courtroom or litigation experience. Of the 54 judges appointed to the D.C. Circuit since Congress created it in 1893, only one, Kavanaugh's mentor Kenneth Starr, had fewer years of experience than Kavanaugh. Even now that Kavanaugh has been a lawyer for more than fourteen years--albeit in a non-legal
position since his nomination--only three D.C. Circuit judges had less experience at the time of their appointments: Starr, failed Supreme Court nominee Douglas Ginsburg, and turn-of-thecentury jurist Charles Henry Robb.