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Senate Republicans� unhealthy fixation on child porn, by the numbers
By Dana Milbank




Judging by the numbers, Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee are obsessed with child pornography.

In four days of Supreme Court confirmation hearings for Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, the phrase �child porn� (or �pornography� or �pornographer�) was mentioned 165 times. There were also, according to transcripts, 142 uses of �sex� (�sexual abuse,� �sexual assault,� �sexual intercourse,� �sex
crimes�), 15 of �pedophile,� 13 of �predators,� 18 of �prepubescent� and
nine of general pornography.

There were only 30 mentions of the First Amendment and 12 of the Bill of Rights.

The Republican fixation on pornography continued during Monday�s round of statements by senators before the committee advanced Jackson�s nomination
to the Senate floor. A preliminary transcript showed 41 mentions of �porn�
or �pornography� and 32 mentions of �sex offenders,� �sexual assault� and
the like.

Some of the references to sex and child pornography were made by Democrats defending Jackson. But the bulk came from the likes of Sens. Josh Hawley
(Mo.), Ted Cruz (Tex.), Tom Cotton (Ark.), Lindsey O. Graham (S.C.) Marsha Blackburn (Tenn.) and Mike Lee (Utah). They winked at the QAnon conspiracy theorists who believe pedophiles control government by portraying Jackson
as an ally of monsters who sexually exploit children � even though her sentencing record is typical and even though these same Republicans
elevated half a dozen Trump judicial nominees with similar records in child pornography cases.

�I�m not suggesting she likes what�s happening in child pornography,�
Graham allowed. (Gee, thanks.) But �she has a chance to impose a sentence
that would deter [child pornography], and she chose not to.�

Lee accused Jackson of �minimizing� punishment for �commercialized efforts
to profit off child sex torture� and �sadomasochistic conduct.� Cotton
said, �the child pornography cases are just the most sensational examples
of her soft-on-crime attitude.�

The ever-mendacious Cruz claimed that �we just last week, after the
hearing, got information on another case, United States v. Weekes, of an individual who raped his 13-year-old niece. Judge Jackson sentenced him to
half what the prosecutors wanted because he failed to register on a sex registry.�

Actually, that case was mentioned during the hearings, on March 22 � in a
news release issued by Senate Judiciary Committee Republicans.

And Hawley stuffed a straw man. �Judge Jackson�s view is that we should
treat everyone more leniently because more and more people are committing
worse and worse child sex offenses,� he claimed, also alleging that �we�ve
been told things like child pornography is actually all a conspiracy, it�s
not real.�

Of course, nobody said child pornography is a conspiracy, or not real; the supporting examples provided to me by Hawley�s office refer to the QAnon conspiracy about pedophiles running the country.

In fairness, child pornography wasn�t Republicans� only obsession. The
phrases �critical race theory� or �CRT� came up 66 times during the
hearing. Cotton claimed that Jackson �seems to have a real interest in
helping terrorists.� Cruz even argued that �the odds are over 100 percent
she will vote to give away U.S. sovereignty to international bodies.�

If it�s possible for the odds on anything to be over 100 percent, it�s that Republicans will continue their peculiar preoccupation with child
pornography as the Jackson nomination goes to the Senate floor. �She has a particularly curious view about certain kinds of criminal behavior. In this particular case, people who would distribute child pornography, of all
things,� Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) told Fox News on Friday.

Republicans on the committee congratulated themselves for avoiding
�personal slanders� of the sort they said Democrats inflicted on Brett M. Kavanaugh after women accused the Donald Trump nominee of sexual
misconduct. Yet, they opposed Jackson with the most grievous of personal slanders: accusing the Black nominee of secretly promoting racially
divisive teaching, portraying her as a pal of terrorists and repeatedly suggesting she endangers children by having a soft spot for perpetrators of heinous sex crimes.

Graham: �Every judge who does what you�re doing is making it easier for the children to be exploited.�

Cruz: �I also see a record of � advocacy as it concerns sexual predators.�

Blackburn: �What�s your hidden agenda? Is it to let � child predators back
to the streets?�

And, of course, there was Hawley, who previewed the hearings by saying Jackson�s record �endangers our children.� Three weeks � and eight mentions
of �prepubescent� � later, Hawley ended Monday where he began. He asserted
that a �core point� of his disagreement with Jackson is that she believes
the real victims of child pornography are the perpetrators, not the
children.

As �personal slander� goes, it doesn�t get much lower.

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https://ewscripps.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/a4a27f4/2147483647/stri p/true/crop/1394x784+0+0/resize/1280x720!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Few scripps-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fa6%2F28%2F4e47271744fa92d10c1eb9766 2be%2Fscreen-shot-2019-05-15-at-8.50.36%20AM.png

Photo by: Dave Kraska
Michael Hutchins, 17, appeared in court for his arraignment on May 15.

CLEVELAND — A man has been sentenced to 33 years in prison for raping a
woman in a downtown parking garage and multiple other crimes.

Michael Hutchins, now 18, committed the crimes between Oct. 9, 2018 and
Feb. 14, 2019, according to court documents.

“This individual repeatedly ignored every single rehabilitation
opportunity afforded to him as a juvenile,” said Prosecutor O’Malley.
“No form of punishment or amount of time behind bars will ever repair
the damage that he has caused.”

On Oct. 9, 2018, Cleveland Christian Home staff attempted to transport
Hutchins back to the Cuyahoga County Juvenile Detention Center, when he
broke free and ran away.

On Nov. 4, 2018, Hutchins stole a laptop that belonged to a 53-year-old
woman at Cleveland State University. He entered the woman's office,
stole the laptop and fled from the scene, according to court documents.

On Valentine's Day 2019, a 35-year-old woman was walking through the 5th
Street Arcade, when Hutchins ran up behind her, reached inside of her
purse and stole her cellphone. He threw the cell phone on the ground and
fled the scene after the woman and another witness ran after him.

Later that day, Hutchins sexually assaulted a 51-year-old woman in a
nearby parking garage on Prospect Avenue, according to court documents.

The woman was walking to her car and was on the elevator with Hutchins.

According to court documents, when the elevator door opened, Hutchins
attacked her.

When she tried to get away, Hutchins treated to shoot her and sexually assaulted her, according to court documents. She attempted to get away,
but he dragged her into her car. He attempted to drive away but he hit a
wall in the parking garage.

Hutchins stole the woman's cellphone, credit card and money. He
threatened to kill her if she called police, according to court
documents.

He was arrested five days later by police.

Hutchins pleaded guilty to two counts of rape, one count of kidnapping,
two counts of robbery, two counts of burglary, one count of grand theft,
two counts of theft and one count of escape.

https://www.news5cleveland.com/news/local-news/cleveland-metro/man-senten ced-to-33-years-in-prison-for-raping-woman-in-downtown-parking-garage

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