PBS asked the Senate Judiciary Committee Republicans for a “warning for viewers” over “graphic” content at Ketanji Brown Jackson’s Confirmation hearings, according to a message obtained by Breitbart News.
“Writing this to a few offices. Not remotely saying a word about what senators should discuss,” the message begins. “I’m here to cover it all and American want to hear it all.”
The message then asks, “But if your boss is considering talking about anything graphic – whether late-term abortions or child abuse – could you consider a possible warning for viewers?”
Abortion has always been at the forefront of Supreme Court nominees’ confirmation hearings since the Court determined women have the right to have an abortion without excessive government restriction in 1973. Abortion is even more so a prominent topic in Jackson’s confirmation hearings as the Roe v. Wade precedent nears its 50th anniversary.
Legal commentators have speculated that the Supreme Court may overturn Roe v. Wade during the court’s term this year.
The “child abuse” discussions PBS is worried about likely stem from questions focused on Jackson’s sentencing records of child sex offenders. Jackson’s rulings in these cases have been a significant focus of the hearings after Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) unearthed seven instances where Jackson gave light sentences to child sex offenders in the week leading up to Jackson’s confirmation process.
Hawley’s thread exposed Jackson’s “pattern of letting child porn offenders off the hook for their appalling crimes, both as a judge and as a policymaker.”
Multiple Republican senators have asked Jackson about her record during the first four days of her confirmation hearing.
On Tuesday, Jackson claimed she makes sure the victims’ perspectives are accounted for in her sentencing. “When I am dealing with something like this, it is important to me to make sure that the children’s perspectives, the children’s voices, are represented in my sentencing,” Jackson said on the second day of her confirmation hearings.
On Wednesday, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz (R) brought a chart to the hearings showing that all eight of Jackson’s sentences for child porn offenders were lesser than what both government prosecutors requested and federal sentencing guidelines recommended.
“I’m trying to understand how you see someone that possesses images of infants and toddlers being sexually violated and you sentence them to 64% below what the prosecutor’s asking for,” Cruz told Jackson.
Jackson offered no explanation for why she deviated from sentencing guidelines and the prosecutor’s requests. “Senator, no one case can stand in for a judge’s entire sentencing record. I’ve sentenced more than 100 people. You have eight or nine cases in that chart,” Jackson told Cruz.
“We are broadcasting this live nationally and you know us – PBS is where families and schools often go for television viewing. And for teaching kids how our government works,” the PBS message continued. “I think parents would appreciate a warning so they can make decisions when graphic content could be coming.”
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