Josh Hawley: Biden’s SCOTUS Pick Has ‘Pattern of Letting Child Porn Offenders off the Hook’

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) called out President Joe Biden’s nominee for United States Supreme Court, Ketanji Brown Jackson, for having “a pattern of letting child porn offenders off the hook for their appalling crimes.”

In a series of tweets detailing Judge Jackson’s rulings, interviews, articles, and speeches, Hawley called attention to the “alarming pattern when it comes to Judge Jackson’s treatment of sex offenders, especially those preying on children.”

I’ve been researching the record of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, reading her opinions, articles, interviews & speeches. I’ve noticed an alarming pattern when it comes to Judge Jackson’s treatment of sex offenders, especially those preying on children

— Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) March 16, 2022

Biden nominated Jackson to replace retiring Justice Stephen Breyer last month, fulfilling his campaign promise to nominate a black woman to the Supreme Court.

“As far back as her time in law school, Judge Jackson has questioned making convicts register as sex offenders – saying it leads to ‘stigmatization and ostracism,’” Hawley tweeted. “She’s suggested public policy is driven by a ‘climate of fear, hatred & revenge’ against sex offenders.”

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) speaks on September 28, 2021 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Hawley shared an article penned by Jackson where she wrote:

In the current climate of fear, hatred, and revenge associated with the release of convicted sex criminals, courts must be especially attentive to legislative enactments that “use[] public health and safety rhetoric to justify procedures that are, in essence, punishment and detention.”

Hawley cited cases such as United States v. Chazin, United States v. Cooper, United States v. Downs, United States v. Sears, and United States v. Stewart as examples of her leniency towards the sentencing of child porn sex offenders.

“In United States v. Cooper, in which the criminal had more than 600 images and videos and posted many on a public blog, the Guidelines called for a sentence of 151-188 months. Judge Jackson settled on 60 months, the lowest possible sentence allowed by law,” Hawley tweeted.

“In United States v. Downs, the perp posted multiple images to an anonymous instant messaging app, including an image of a child under the age of 5. The Guidelines recommended 70-87 months. Judge Jackson gave him the lowest sentence allowed by law, 60 months,” he said in another tweet.

Hawley sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee, where Democrat Senate Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said Jackson would have a “prompt” hearing.

Hawley said the U.S. Sentencing Commission has refused to provide the committee with all of Jackson’s records from her time spent there. The Missouri Senator called Jackson’s record “disturbing,” and added, “sending child predators to jail shouldn’t be controversial.”

He also called out Jackson for wondering if there is a type of “less-serious child pornography offender.” Hawley shared a transcript where Jackson said:

And so I’m wondering whether you could say that there is a that there could be a less-serious child pornography offender who is engaging in the type of conduct in the group experience level because their motivation is the challenge, or to use the technology? They’re very sophisticated technologically, but they aren’t necessarily that interested in the child pornography piece of it?

Jackson also claims she “mistakingly assumed that child pornography offenders are pedophiles,” in another transcript Hawley shared to Twitter. “In every single child porn case for which we can find records, Judge Jackson deviated from the federal sentencing guidelines in favor of child porn offenders,” Hawley wrote.

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