HELENA – Attorney General Austin Knudsen joined nine state attorneys general today in opposing the confirmation of President Biden’s nominee Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the U.S. Supreme Court because of her history of leniency toward child predators.
As a judge, Jackson has sentenced criminals who possess, publish, and produce images of child rape to a small fraction of what sentencing guidelines recommend. The letter to Senators Dick Durbin and Chuck Grassley of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary, outlined three specific instances:
- U.S. v. Hawkins, where Judge Jackson sentenced a man convicted of possessing child pornography to three months when sentencing guidelines called for 10 years.
- U.S. v. Stewart, where she sentenced a man convicted of possessing thousands of images of child pornography, along with attempting to cross state lines to molest a 9- year-old girl, to only 57 months when sentencing guidelines called for 97–121 months.
- U.S. v. Chazin, where she sentenced the defendant to 28 months for possession of child pornography when sentencing guidelines called for 78–97 months.
“Judges should be cutting off the supply of porn that feeds these criminal monsters by being tough on offenders. Instead, by being soft on them, Judge Jackson has made it more likely for images of child rape to proliferate and thus made it easier for children to be sexualized, abused, and exploited,” Knudsen and other attorneys general wrote. “Based on her record, Judge Jackson’s elevation to the Supreme Court would harm that institution, as well as children’s public safety nationwide. The United States Senate should do its job and protect the American people from this dangerous nominee.”
Attorney General Knudsen joined attorneys general from Texas, Arkansas, Idaho, Indiana, Louisiana, Missouri, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and South Dakota in opposing Jackson’s confirmation.
Click here to read the letter.
