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(CNSNews.com) - Sen. Ted Cruz (R.-Texas) said at a press conference today that he believes that Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson will be “the furthest left of any justice to have ever served on the Supreme Court.”
Shortly after this press conference, the Senate voted 53 to 47 to confirm Jackson as justice.
Three Republicans joined all 50 Senate Democrats in voting for Jackson’s confirmation. These Republicans were Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, and Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah.
“Based on her record, I believe she will prove to be the furthest left of any justice to have ever served on the Supreme Court,” Cruz said at the press conference, where he was joined by Sen. Mike Lee (R.-Utah), Sen. Lindsey Graham (R.-S.C.) and Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R.-Tenn.).
“Based on her record,” said Cruz, “I think we can anticipate that she will vote consistently to undermine the constitutional rights of Americans—to undermine our rights to free speech, to undermine our rights to religious liberty, to undermine our rights under the Second Amendment to keep and bear arms.
“But there is no area of law where her record is more extreme than in criminal law,” Cruz continued. “When it concerns criminal law, Judge Jackson’s record is far, far, far out of the mainstream.
“If you examine her time as a federal district judge, for all criminal cases before her court, she sentenced criminal defendants on average to 29.9 months,” said Cruz. “The average nationally for all federal judges—and that includes Republican district judges, Democrat district judges, that includes judges appointed by Barack Obama, by Bill Clinton, by Jimmy Carter—the average nationally is 45.1 months. Judge Jackson’s is 34 percent less than that at 29.9.”
Cruz expressed particular dismay with the lenient sentences Jackson imposed in child pornography cases when she served as a federal district judge.
“For possession of child pornography, the national average for sentencing is 68 months,” said Cruz. “Judge Jackson’s average sentence for the exact same crime is 29.2 months—57 percent lower than the average sentence imposed by other federal district judges.
“If you examine the even worse crime of distribution of child pornography, the average sentence nationally is 135 months—eleven years,” Cruz said. “It’s a long time because it’s a serious and horrific crime. Judge Jackson’s average sentence was 71.9 months—47 percent less than the national average.
“With distribution it’s even starker than that because distribution of child pornography carries with it a mandatory minimum sentence of 60 months,” Cruz explained. “Under the law, she could not sentence anyone less than 60 months, and for many of the defendants she did exactly that and sentenced at the absolutely lowest sentence allowable under the law.”
Here is the full transcript of Sen. Cruz’s remarks at his press conference about Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson:
Sen. Ted Cruz (R.-Texas): “Good afternoon. Today, the Senate is poised to confirm Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the United States Supreme Court. She will be 116th person to serve as a justice on the Supreme Court of the United States. Based on her record, I believe she will prove to be the furthest left of any justice to have ever served on the Supreme Court. Based on her record, I think we can anticipate that she will vote consistently to undermine the constitutional rights of Americans—to undermine our rights to free speech, to undermine our rights to religious liberty, to undermine our rights under the Second Amendment to keep and bear arms.
“But there is no area of law where her record is more extreme than in criminal law. When it concerns criminal law, Judge Jackson’s record is far, far, far out of the mainstream. If you examine her time as a federal district judge, for all criminal cases before her court, she sentenced criminal defendants on average to 29.9 months. The average nationally for all federal judges—and that includes Republican district judges, Democrat district judges, that includes judges appointed by Barack Obama, by Bill Clinton, by Jimmy Carter—the average nationally is 45.1 months. Judge Jackson’s is 34 percent less than that at 29.9.
“But then, as you are aware, not only is her record consistently in favor of very, very lenient sentences for violent criminals, for drug dealers, but she has a particular pattern of leniency for sex offenders that is deeply dismaying. If you examine the crimes of possession of child pornography and distribution of child pornography—these are horrifying crimes—she had these cases repeatedly before her during her time as a district judge. For possession of child pornography, the national average for sentencing is 68 months. Judge Jackson’s average sentence for the exact same crime is 29.2 months—57 percent lower than the average sentence imposed by other federal district judges. If you examine the even worse crime of distribution of child pornography, the average sentence nationally is 135 months—eleven years. It’s a long time because it’s a serious and horrific crime. Judge Jackson’s average sentence was 71.9 months—47 percent less than the national average.
“With distribution it’s even starker than that because distribution of child pornography carries with it a mandatory minimum sentence of 60 months. Under the law, she could not sentence anyone less than 60 months, and for many of the defendants she did exactly that and sentenced at the absolutely lowest sentence allowable under the law. On average nationally, every federal district judge sentences those convicted of distribution of child pornography to 135 months, which is 75 months more than the mandatory minimum sentence. Judge Jackson on average sentenced those same defendants to just 11.9 months more than the mandatory minimum sentence.
“This is a disturbing pattern and it’s a pattern that one sees reading the transcripts from her sentencing hearings, where on the bench she repeatedly expressed that she felt bad for the criminal defendants who were pleading guilty to these criminal offenses.
“And it’s worth noting that the offense here did not involve consenting adults. These were little children being horribly sexually violated in a way that we know does permanent and lasting damage to those kids.
“Judge Jackson from the bench would give speeches where she would acknowledge this is not a victimless crime. These little children—eleven, ten, eight, sometimes toddlers or even younger. The horrible assaults that they are videoed undergoing will stay with them forever. Her speeches were powerful. And then, over and over and over again, she would give them a slap on the wrist—the defendant—and sentence them to very, very low sentences.
“She is an extreme outlier on the question of crime, and as a Supreme Court justice, I think we can reasonably expect that Justice Jackson will consistently vote—as she has done as a judge for the last ten years—for more lenient sentences for criminal defendants, for releasing violent criminals, for lessening the punishment on the very worsts sex offenders.
“This was a nomination that was out of the main stream. And I believe it is a nomination that jeopardizes the constitutional rights of every American.”