Republican Sen. Josh Hawley gave the harshest criticism yet of President Biden’s pick to fill the upcoming Supreme Court vacancy. Hawley met with Ketanji Brown Jackson last week as part of her rounds on Capitol Hill ahead of Senate Judiciary Committee hearings next week. However, Wednesday night Hawley took to Twitter to air his “concerns” over her alarming patterns that endanger children.
Judge Jackson has a pattern of letting child porn offenders off the hook for their appalling crimes, both as a judge and as a policymaker. She’s been advocating for it since law school. This goes beyond “soft on crime.” I’m concerned that this a record that endangers our children
— Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) March 16, 2022
The Washington Examiner reports:
One example Hawley referenced of Jackson’s “pattern” toward sexual offenders was in the case United States v. Hawkins, involving a defendant who had “multiple images of child porn.”
“He was over 18,” Hawley wrote. “The Sentencing Guidelines called for a sentence of up to 10 years. Judge Jackson sentenced the perpetrator to only 3 months in prison. Three months.”
Another instance raised by Hawley was in United States v. Cooper, in which the guidelines suggested a sentence of “151-188” months for the defendant. “Judge Jackson settled on 60 months, the lowest possible sentence allowed by law,” Hawley added.
Hawley also claimed that Jackson, who previously served as commissioner of the U.S. Sentencing Commission from 2010 to 2014 before her career as a federal judge, “advocated for drastic change in how the law treats sex offenders by eliminating the existing mandatory minimum sentences for child porn.”
Hawley’s allegations will likely be considered by other Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee and in the Senate during her hearings.
“So far, the Sentencing Commission has refused to turn over all Judge Jackson’s records from her time there,” Hawley said while calling for immediate “access to all relevant records.”
