Bush-Appointed Judge Who Ruled for Padilla Is Nominated for 4th Circuit
President Obama has nominated a federal judge who ruled against the Bush administration in a terrorism case for a seat on the Richmond, Va.-based 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Obama nominated U.S. District Judge Henry Floyd of South Carolina for the vacancy, according to The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times. Floyd ruled in 2005 that terrorism suspect Jose Padilla, a U.S. citizen, could not be held as an enemy combatant. In another case, however, Floyd ruled the government could hold a Qatari national as a material witness.
Floyd was appointed to the federal bench by President George W. Bush in 2003. If he is confirmed, he would be the first judge appointed by the Republican president to be elevated to a federal appeals court, McClatchy Newspapers reports.
