Republican Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley pressed Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson on allegedly “apologizing” to a child pornography offender at Tuesday’s confirmation hearing.
Hawley raised the case United States v. Hawkins, where Jackson sentenced an 18-year-old child porn offender 3 months imprisonment, despite sentencing guidelines recommending up to 10 years. He read a transcript in which Jackson allegedly told the convict there is “no reason to think” that he is a pedophile.
“Didn’t you apologize to him? And I just got to tell you, I can’t quite figure this out,” Hawley said. “You said to him, ‘This is a truly difficult situation. I appreciate that your family’s in the audience. I feel so sorry for them, and for you and the anguish this has caused all of you. I feel terrible about the collateral consequences of this conviction.’ And then you go on to say ‘sex offenders are truly shunned in our society.’ I’m just trying to figure out, judge, is he the victim here?”
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“Senator, again, I don’t have the entire record,” Jackson replied. “I remember in that particular case, I considered it to be unusual, in part for the reasons I described. I remember in that case that defense counsel was arguing for probation, in part, because he argued, we had a very young man, [who] just graduated from high school, he presented all of his diplomas and certificates and the things that he had done.”
She argued she had the responsibility to consider sentencing disparities, factors and circumstances of the defendant in the process of considering his sentence. She said she considered a number of factors that the defendant, government and probation office were pointing to. (RELATED: Andrew McCarthy Pushes Back On Sen. Josh Hawley’s Criticism Of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson)
“I sent this 18-year-old to 3 months in federal prison under circumstances that were presented in this case because I wanted him to understand that what he had done was harmful, that what he had done was unlawful, that what he had done violated the law and needed to be punished not only by prison but by the many other things that the law requires of a judge who is sentencing in this area,” Jackson continued.
Jackson said the government has asked for sentencing significantly lower than the guidelines’ recommendations. She said that sentences for child pornography offenders go beyond jail time, but include restrictions on computer use and the ability to be in the presence of children for long periods of time.
Hawley first alleged Jackson’s leniency on child pornography cases in a Twitter thread on March 17, claiming that the nominee did not follow Sentencing Guidelines for child pornography offenders and pushed to eliminate mandatory minimum guidelines and the requirement of placing child porn convicts on a sex offender registry.
Jackson defended her rulings at the Tuesday hearing, saying a judge must consider various aspects of an offense and consider the victim’s perspective.
