January 1, Senators Say They Can’t Move Past This Jackson Ruling

Ahead of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s Supreme Court confirmation vote, some Republican senators cited a recent ruling of hers that they found particularly troubling.

From the senate floor, Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) said that “just three days ago and over a week after the hearings were concluded, we received the sentencing transcripts from a case where Judge Jackson gave yet another light sentence — to a violent child rapist who failed to give truthful information to the court and falsified his address for purposes of requiring a sex offender registry participation.”

In 2010, Leo Weekes had been sentenced to 16 months in jail and four years of supervised probation, with a requirement to register as a sex offender, for sexually assaulting his 13-year-old niece.

In 2014, Weekes was brought before Jackson, a federal judge at the time, after pleading guilty to a charge of failing to register as a sex offender. Jackson sentenced Weekes to 12 months, with credit for time served, even though prosecutors had recommended two years.

In 2015, Weekes assaulted another family member. If Jackson had applied the recommended 24-month sentence, Weekes would have been behind bars at the time of the assault.

Weekes “would have been in prison and unable to sexually assault his sister-in-law if Jackson hadn’t sentenced him below the guidelines range and below the government’s recommendation,” Lee said.

“We just last week, after the hearing, got information on another case … of an individual who raped his 13-year old-niece. Jackson sentenced him to half what the prosecutor wanted because he failed to register on a sex registry and went to work at a daycare,” Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) said.

“Because he was released early, because of Judge Jackson’s sentence, he committed another sexual assault — a rape. Again she had him before her, and again she sentenced him to half of what the prosecutor sought. This is a pattern.”

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GOP senators cite freeing of rapist who assaulted again in opposing Jackson