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Leo Weekes was convicted in 2010 of raping his 13-year-old niece. On his release, he violated his probation, and Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson declined to sentence him to the two years prosecutors requested. He offended again 14 months after being sentenced
Joe Biden’s Supreme Court nominee has again had her record as a judge questioned, after it emerged that she gave a 12 month sentence to a child rapist who violated his parole rules, rather than the two years prosecutors sought – and he went on to attack again a year later.
Leo Weekes was in 2010 convicted in DC Superior Court of raping his 13-year-old niece four years earlier.
He was sentenced to 16 months in jail and four years of supervised probation, and was required to register as a sex offender for the next decade.
But he failed to comply with his probation conditions, and in February 2014 appeared before Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson for sentencing.
Prosecutors requested two years, but Brown Jackson gave him a 12 month sentence, and he was released five months later.
In June 2015 he sexually assaulted his sister-in-law, plying her with drink before attacking her.
He was arrested, but she decided not to press charges – prosecutors said he paid $2,500 to drop her allegations, The New York Post reported.
Brown Jackson is seen on March 23 at the third day of her nomination hearings on Capitol Hill
Weekes was charged with multiple probation violations, and in February 2017 appeared once again before Brown Jackson for sentencing.
Prosecutors asked for two years to be added to his DC sentence, but Jackson once again opted for a lenient sentence, imposing her 24-month sentence to partially overlap with his punishment in connection with the assault on his sister-in-law.
Republicans have expressed concern about Brown Jackson’s record, in particular her sentencing of those accused of possessing child pornography.
But they seized upon the revelations of the Weekes case – disclosed in a tranche of court filings and transcripts sent to the Senate Judiciary Committee on Friday – as further cause for alarm.
‘This case is yet another example of information coming to light after the nomination hearing concluded because of the Democrats’ rushed vetting process,’ a Republican Judiciary Committee aide told The New York Post on Saturday.
A final confirmation vote is expected this week.
Jackson would be the first black woman on the high court in its more than 200-year history, and the sixth woman.
On Thursday, Lindsay Graham, senator for South Carolina, said he would not be voting to confirm her.
She will likely be confirmed, because Democrats control the House and Senate.
Brown Jackson, 51, would be the first black woman appointed to the Supreme Court, if as expected she is approved this week
She is pictured on March 29 during a meeting with Senator Bill Hagerty of Tennessee
In a speech on the Senate floor, Graham said his decision is based partly on what he sees as a ‘flawed sentencing methodology regarding child pornography cases,’ echoing a line of questioning by some Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee last week.
Several senators, some eyeing a run for president, repeatedly asked her about her sentencing decisions in her nine years as a federal judge in an effort to paint her as too lenient on sex criminals.
Jackson told the committee that ‘nothing could be further from the truth’ and explained her sentencing decisions in detail.
She said some of the cases have given her nightmares and were ‘among the worst that I have seen.’
Democrats pointed to testimony last week by the chair of the American Bar Association committee that makes recommendations on federal judges.
Ann Claire Williams, the head of that ABA panel, said the idea that Jackson is out of the mainstream on sentencing ‘never came up’ in a review of more than 250 judges and lawyers.
The review found Jackson and her record to be ‘outstanding, excellent, superior, superb,’ Williams said.
Graham also mentioned Jackson’s her legal advocacy on behalf of terror suspects held at Guantanamo Bay more than a decade ago and her support from liberal groups.
‘After a thorough review of Judge Jackson’s record and information gained at the hearing from an evasive witness, I now know why Judge Jackson was the favorite of the radical left,’ Graham said.
Source: dailymail
