Sen. Cory Booker strongly rebuked Republicans in the Senate Judiciary Committee on Monday for their “straw man” criticism over Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson‘s sentencing record, saying, “These are just lies.”
“Judge Jackson is not an extremist. She is not out of the judicial norm,” Booker said, who spoke after Sen. Josh Hawley, a Missouri Republican, reaffirmed his vote against Jackson due to her record of sentencing child pornography offenders below the United States Sentencing Commission’s recommended length of time.
“You could try to create a straw man here, but it does not hold, and it’s just frustrating to me. To listen to people trying to create a caricature of a human being whose family is law enforcement, who is a parent, and who is well within the norm on these cases,” Booker added.
Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) slams Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) for hypocritically saying he supports child abuse sentencing guidelines while attacking Judge Jackson:
“Why didn’t you vote against every one of those Republican judges that was not following the guidelines, as most don’t?” pic.twitter.com/XI1BHnEDpQ
— The Recount (@therecount) April 4, 2022
Since Hawley first raised concerns about Jackson’s sentencing record last month, numerous GOP senators, including Sens. Lindsey Graham and Ted Cruz, have argued it is a major point against her confirmation to the high court. During her committee questioning two weeks ago, the Missouri senator brought up a specific 2013 case, United States v. Hawkins, involving an 18-year-old defendant whom Jackson sentenced to three months in federal prison for possession of child pornography despite the government requesting 24 months in prison.
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“The norm in many states is 70-80% of judges going before the guidelines, and if that statement is correct, then why didn’t you vote against every one of those Republican judges that was not following the guidelines, as most don’t,” the New Jersey Democrat asked of GOP members on the committee.
Booker did not have a problem with Republicans merely objecting to Jackson, but he hit out against their “rhetoric” of criticizing Jackson, arguing it is “so disrespectful.”
“I voted against Amy Coney Barrett. I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with that, but the way we talk about each other — the rhetoric that is so disrespectful, so much of a caricature, so far out of the lines of what independent groups and law enforcement and visit victim advocates that support this candidate would say,” Booker said.
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The Senate Judiciary Committee is preparing for a probable deadlock vote Monday to advance Jackson’s nomination to a vote in the full Senate. An 11-11 vote between opposing party members would require Democrats to ask the full Senate to vote on a motion to advance Jackson’s nomination from the panel, which only requires a simple majority.
