Separately, People for the American Way argued that Judge Conrad's short tenure on the district court had not served to put to rest the concerns raised by his pre-judicial record. To the contrary, this activist group stated that he "'consistently ruled against plaintiffs alleging employment discrimination,' he appearhostile to the rights of criminal defendants, and, sitting by designation on the Fourth Circuit, he joined an anti-environmental ruling overturning a district court decision that the Army Corps of Engineers had violated the Clean Water Act in approving a permit for the discharge of material from mountain-top mining."