SCOTUS nominee faces new hurdles on Capitol Hill | WJHL

WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) — President Joe Biden’s Supreme Court pick could be facing new hurdles on Capitol Hill.

This week, Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., accused Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson of being too soft on crime, particularly crimes against children.

“She has a record of being consistently lenient to, soft on child sex offenders,” he said. “…She’s questioned if their ought to be a sex offender registry… I think it’s serious.”

Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., says there’s a reason Jackson has support from the Association of International Chiefs of Police and the Fraternal Order of Police and wondered why no other Republican senators are backing Hawley’s claims.

“It’s just not true…it doesn’t reflect her record…and I’m sorry Sen. Hawley, who was a cheerleader for the insurrectionist mob on January 6th, has reverted to this,” Durbin said.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., says he is concerned Jackson’s time as a public defender made her sympathetic to criminals.

“If any judicial nominee really does have special empathy for some parties over others, that’s not an asset, it’s a problem,” McConnell said.

Still, he promises next week’s hearings will be civil.

“It’ll be a serious and dignified process,” he said. “The American people need answers to more important questions than what somebody wrote in the nominee’s high school yearbook.”