In his questioning of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson during the Senate Judiciary Committee’s confirmation hearings March 22, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, continued the GOP line of questioning about how Jackson sentenced people convicted of child pornography crimes.
He referenced charts he said showed Jackson’s sentencing in several child pornography cases, suggesting her sentences were too lenient.
When asked about whether victims’ voices were heard in the cases she sentenced, Jackson said “I take these cases very seriously as a mother. As someone who, as a judge, has to review the actual evidence in these cases and, based on Congress’ requirement, take into account not only sentencing guidelines, not only recommendations of the parties, but also things like stories of the victims, also things like the nature and circumstance of the offense, and the history of the defendant. Congress tells sentencing judges what they look at, and Congress has said that a judge is not playing a numbers game.”
Cruz also pointed to questions Jackson asked while on the U.S. Sentencing Commission related to how child pornography offenders should be sentenced, including a comment from Jackson he interpreted to be giving certain offenders slack by distinguishing between the technology and the content of child pornography. At the end of Cruz’s remarks, Committee Chair Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., clarified the quote Cruz pulled from was from a proceeding by the U.S. Sentencing Committee that ultimately found sentencing guidelines and mandatory minimums were too high for child pornography cases.
Jackson was nominated by President Joe Biden in February to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer. If confirmed, she will be the first Black woman on the high court. After opening statements from Jackson, her colleagues and the senators March 21, senators will spend two days questioning Jackson at length about her rulings and judicial philosophy. On the final day of the hearings March 24, the Senate Judiciary Committee will hear from friends and colleagues of Jackson about her temperament and approach to the law.
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