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ATTORNEY GENERAL ASHCROFT WELCOMES WHITE HOUSE

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today Attorney General John Ashcroft welcomed the announcement by President George W. Bush of his intention to nominate Ralph F. Boyd, Jr. for the position of Assistant Attorney General of the Civil Rights Division at the U.S. Department of Justice.

"Protecting the civil rights of all Americans remains one of this Justice Department's top priorities. Ralph Boyd is considered a professional, tough prosecutor who will aggressively enforce our nation's civil rights laws. I have full confidence in his abilities and look forward to working together on the issues we will face," said Ashcroft.

Boyd, 44, currently serves as a partner with the Goodwin Procter law firm in Boston. From 1991 to1997, Boyd served as a federal prosecutor for the Boston U.S. Attorney's office, where he received widespread praise for cracking down on gun violence. From 1986 to 1990, Boyd was a litigation associate for Ropes & Gray in Boston. Boyd has played a key role in establishing Boston's Effective Crime Initiative. Boston Police Commissioner Paul Evans credits Boyd for the dramatic drop in deadly street violence in Boston through Boyd's work with a Boston police task force of state and federal prosecutors, police officers, streetworkers, and probation officers. Boyd also represented low-income tenants trapped in unsafe and substandard housing. The Massachusetts Tenant Association rewarded Boyd by giving him a Pro Bono Award in 1990.

Boyd clerked for U.S. District Judge Joseph H. Young during the 1985 case for the bombing of 10 abortion clinics. In July 1985, Judge Young sentenced a man, Kenneth Shields, to two years in prison for co-conspiring in the bombing of 10 abortion clinics in Maryland, Virginia, Delaware and the District of Columbia.

A graduate of Harvard Law School, Boyd served as President of The Harvard Defenders, which represented indigent criminal defenders in Roxbury, Dorchester, Somerville, and East Boston district courts. Boyd also interned with the Southern Poverty Law Center in Montgomery, Alabama. He is a graduate of Haverford College in Haverford, Pennsylvania, where he received his B.A. in political science.

As the son of the founder of the Schenectady Chapter of the NAACP in New York, Boyd has been recognized for his efforts as a strong advocate for civil rights and life in urban America. He currently serves on Governor Paul Cellucci's Diversity Advisory Board, as well as the Governor's Judicial Nominating Committee. Boyd also served as the Editor for the Civil Rights Civil Liberties Law Review at Harvard from 1983-1984, and received The Greater Boston Federal Executive Board African-American Achievement Award in 1996.

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