Supreme Court affirmation hearings for Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson open this week midway through e Floss of misleading accusations by Republican Sen. Josh Hawley that the candidate has a “long record” for letting child porn offenders “out of the hook” during sentencing.
“In every single child pornography case for which we find records, Judge Jackson dismissed federal sentencing guidelines for child pornography offenders,” Hawley tweeted Thursday, highlighting nine cases from her time as a district court judge.
While court records show that Jackson proposed lighter sentences than federal guidelines, Hawley’s insinuation neglected critical contexts, including the fact that the senator himself voted to confirm at least three federal judges who also engage in the same practice. .
Federal Court of Appeals Judge Joseph Bianco of the Second Circuit and Andrew Brasher of the Eleventh Circuit, both named Trump, had each convicted convicts, convicted of possession of child pornography and imprisonment far below federal guidelines at the time they were confirmed with Hawley’s support. and ABC review of court records found.
Hawley’s office did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment on the vote.
“If and when we properly contextualize Judge Jackson’s conviction record in federal child pornography cases, it looks pretty mainstream,” wrote Doug Berman, a leading expert in criminal law and politics at the Ohio State University School of Law.
“Federal judges across the country typically sentence under it [child porn] Guidelines in about 2 out of 3 cases, “Berman noted on his blog, and” when deciding under the [child porn] 54 months under the calculated guideline minimum. “
Berman also points out that prosecutors often seek sub-range penalties, even in most Jackson cases, which Hawley cited.
“The guidelines are now purely advisory, and many judges of all stripes routinely find that penalties within guidelines are excessively strict, especially when it comes to first-time offenders,” Cardozo Law Professor and ABC News legal analyst Kate Shaw said.
The U.S. Sentencing Commission, the bipartisan body created by Congress to enforce federal sentencing rules, stated in its 2021 report that prison sentences were proposed for defendants convicted of possessing child pornography – as opposed to the production of materials – “was has been subject to long-term criticism by actors.and has one of the lowest rates of within-guidelines range rates each year.
“Less than one-third (30.0%) of non-production child pornography offenders received a sentence in the policy area in fiscal year 2019,” the report said.
“Judge Jackson’s record in this [child porn] Cases show that they are very skeptical of the areas of the [child porn] Guidelines, but so were prosecutors in the majority of their cases and so are district judges across the country (appointed by presidents of both parties), “Berman wrote.
Republican Sen. Mike Lee of Utah, a member of the Judiciary Committee, on Thursday suggested that regardless of the context surrounding Judge Jackson’s sentences, he remain concerned. “The White House’s whataboutist response to Judge Jackson’s very real record in child pornography cases is dismissive, dangerous and offensive. We need real answers.” he tweeted.
An ABC News review by federal judges appointed and confirmed during the Trump administration found that nearly a dozen under-sentence sentences were handed down in cases of defendants watching, possessing, transporting or distributing child pornography.
Judge Ralph Erickson of the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, upheld in 2017 with the support of Sen. Lee, convicted defendant and sentenced to at least 11 child pornography to prison sentences under the recommendation, records show.
Sixth Circuit Judge Amul Thapar, who was on Trump’s Supreme Court shortlist in 2018, sentenced a man who was sentenced to 73 months behind bars for distributing child pornography when the guidelines proposed 97-121 months.
District Court Judge Dabney Friedrich, a Trump nominee who served alongside Judge Jackson in the U.S. Criminal Commission for a time, also issued records under guideline sentences in at least four child pornography cases.
Hawley accused Jackson of pleading “for drastic change” in the conviction of sex offenders by eliminating mandatory minimum sentences for child pornography during the commission. But he did not mention that the panel’s Republican appointments – including Judge Friedrich – also supported the revision of the sentences in a unanimous vote.
“There were three Republicans in the commission at the time, including Judge Bill Pryor of the 11th Circuit, Ricardo Hinojosa, a judge in a border district, and Judge Dabney Friedrich, who was appointed to the bench by Donald Trump.” said Rachel Barkow. Vice Dean of NYU Law School and a former Sentencing Commission Member. “I do not think the three of them are soft on crime.”
Multiple independent fact-checkers, including AP and the Washington Post, have rejected most of Hawley’s claims. The White House called it “toxic and poorly presented misinformation.”
“As far as Senator Hawley is concerned, here’s the main line: He’s wrong,” Senate Judiciary Committee President Sen. Dick Durbin told ABC News this week. “He is inaccurate and unfair in his analysis. Judge Jackson has been scrutinized more than any person I can think of. This is her fourth time before the Senate Judiciary Committee, and three previous times she has gone through with bright colors and bipartisan support.”
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