Monday was the first day of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s Supreme Court confirmation hearings and she’s expected to be grilled by Republican lawmakers on her record. CNN reporters and analysts are focused on that topic. Here’s What We Do rushed to defend Jackson from accusations that she’s lenient with sex offenders and child porn peddlers given some of her rulings. They even lashed out at Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO), calling his scrutiny on her record “extreme” and “toxic.”
“And [Senator] Dick Durbin [D-IL] already alluded to this when he said earlier, ‘these baseless charges aren’t fair,”Before Kate Bolduan even spoke, Kate Bolduan declared that she was going to make the accusations. “Durbin’s likely specifically talking about some of what’s been lined up as a line of attack coming from Republicans like Senator Josh Hawley.”
Bolduan stated, without any evidence whatsoever, after Bolduan showed a brief clip of Hawley talking about the allegations on Fox News. “his assessment’s been fact-checked, found to lack significant content at the very least.”
On Twitter, Hawley’s press secretary, Abigail Marone addressed the “fact checks” by pointing out how they “admit @HawleyMO is technically correct but then argue that sentencing guidelines for pedophiles are too harsh and they should be more lenient. Gross.” She also provided four screenshots proving her point.
“Well, I have no doubt that she’ll respond well to something that is As disingenuous and misleading as this statement sounds. What’s the reality here is they’re trying to throw everything against the wall hoping it will stick,”Laura Coates was a senior legal analyst.
Moments later, Coates defended Jackson’s history as a public defender (without mentioning her time as a private defender) to argue that she’s “not soft on crime” but rather “hard on injustice” and declared “That’s where a judge should actually be.”
Up next was chief political analyst Gloria Borger who discounted Senator Chuck Grassley’s (R-IA) comments about how this wasn’t going to be like the confirmation of Justice Brett Kavanaugh. “They are people who want to say that the Biden administration in nominating her has shown that it is soft on crime. This is something that works very well for Republicans,” she huffed noting that some on the committee have presidential aspirations.
Borger continued on denounce Hawley as being “extreme” and “toxic” to scrutinize Jackson’s record like that. She also suggested, again, that Jackson’s alleged lenient sentence for sex offenders was not supported by evidence. “if you look at the numbers, is also not true.”
“So I think, you know, we ought to listen to these hearings and we ought to hear what kind of a judge Ketanji Brown Jackson really is, rather than listening to politicians make their political points which, of course, they always do in these hearings,” she lectured.
She did at least admit that the Democrats’ and media’s actions towards Kavanaugh were only for political gain.
CNN’s defense of Judge Jackson and dismissal of serious questions about her record were made possible because of lucrative sponsorships from Expedia and Vroom. You can find their contact information here.
Below is the transcript. Click “expand to read:
CNN’s This Hour
February 21, 2022
Eastern, 11:36:44KATE BOLDUAN : Now let’s see what the Judge will face when it comes to questioning. She will be questioned. I’m willing to take on all the blame. And Dick Durbin already alluded to this when he said earlier, “these baseless charges aren’t fair.” Durbin’s likely specifically talking about some of what’s been lined up as a line of attack coming from Republicans like Senator Josh Hawley. Hawley appeared on Fox News today to lay out his plans. Here’s a video.
[Cuts to video]
SEN. JOSHHAWLEY, R-MO: Although she was on the bench and Judge Jackson in all cases in which she had a child porn offenders in front her, Judge Jackson gave that individual a lenient sentence. This is in contrast to what federal guidelines suggest, or what the government wanted. [Transition]This is an individual, however, that I feel, has some issues in being soft on crime or lenient with criminals. I’d like to know if he is someone who will protect my children from child sex predators and need those answers.
[Cuts back to live]
BOLDUAN: And Laura, his assessment’s been fact-checked, found to lack significant content at the very least. These are the questions the judge will be asking her. What is her response?
LAURA COATES says: I’m sure she will respond positively to something as disingenuous and misleading as this statement. The reality is that they are trying to throw all their weight at the wall, hoping that something will stick.
(…)
Eastern at 11:38.15
No. 1, public defenders. Trust me, I was a federal procuror. Because they are soft on crime, we did not see them as our enemies. We did not view them as any enemies. They worked together to make sure that justice would never happen. They do not take lightly crime and they fight injustice. It’s the place a judge ought to be.
(…)
Eastern at 11:40 a.m.
GLORIA BORGER It works well for Republicans. Hawley’s attempt to make a statement that these potential sex-offenders or sex offenders are being sentenced in a less harsh manner than her fellow judges is toxic.
You know what? They want to point out her political bias. However, she should explain how she made the statements and how she repeated the same things the defendants said back to her.
It is my opinion that we should all listen to these hearings. We ought to see what Ketanji Brown Jackson actually thinks.
BOLDUAN: That’s exactly right.
(…)
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