最高法院法官确认听证会凯坦吉·布朗·杰克逊本周开幕一阵忙乱共和党参议员乔希·霍利(Josh Hawley)的误导性指控称，被提名人在判刑期间有让儿童色情罪犯“摆脱困境”的“长期记录”。

“在我们能找到的每一个儿童色情案件中，杰克逊法官都偏离了联邦量刑指南，而倾向于儿童色情罪犯，”霍利周四在推特上写道，强调了她担任地区法院法官期间的九个案件。

虽然法庭记录显示，杰克逊确实判处了比联邦指导方针所建议的更轻的刑罚，但霍利的暗示忽略了关键的背景，包括参议员本人投票确认了至少三名联邦法官也参与了同样的做法。

美国广播公司对法庭记录的审查发现，第二巡回法院的联邦上诉法院法官约瑟夫·比安科(Joseph Bianco)和第十一巡回法院的安德鲁·布拉舍(Andrew Brasher)都是特朗普任命的人，他们之前都曾判处被判拥有儿童色情制品的被告监禁，刑期远低于在霍利支持下确认的联邦指导方针。

霍利的办公室没有立即回应ABC新闻对投票的评论请求。

“如果我们恰当地将杰克逊法官在联邦儿童色情案件中的判决记录联系起来，它看起来相当主流，”书写俄亥俄州立大学法学院量刑法律和政策的首席专家道格·伯曼说。

“全国范围内的联邦法官通常在大约三分之二的案件中判决低于(儿童色情)指导原则，”伯曼说在他的博客上写道，并且“当决定低于(儿童色情)指导方针时，通常会判处低于计算的最低指导方针54个月的刑期。”

伯曼还指出，政府检察官经常要求低于幅度的判决，包括霍利引用的大多数杰克逊案件。

卡多佐法学教授、美国广播公司新闻法律分析师凯特·肖(Kate Shaw)说:“这些指导方针现在纯粹是建议性的，许多各种各样的法官经常发现指导方针内的判决过于严厉，特别是在涉及初犯的时候。”

这美国量刑委员会由国会创建的制定联邦量刑规则的跨党派机构解释说在其2021年的报告中这表明，被判拥有儿童色情制品(而不是制作这些材料)的被告的刑期“一直受到利益相关者的长期批评，并且是每年最低的指导范围内的刑期之一。”

“在2019财年，不到三分之一(30.0%)的非生产性儿童色情罪犯获得了指导范围内的判决，”报告称。

“杰克逊法官在这些(儿童色情)案件中的记录确实表明，她对(儿童色情)指导方针设定的范围持怀疑态度，但她大多数案件中的检察官也是如此，全国各地的地区法官(由两党总统任命)也是如此，”伯曼写道。

司法委员会成员、犹他州共和党参议员李政颖周四表示，不管杰克森法官的判决背景如何，他仍然感到担忧。“白宫对杰克逊法官在儿童色情案件中的真实记录的态度是轻蔑、危险和无礼的。我们需要真正的答案，”他发了微博。

美国广播公司新闻频道(ABC News)对特朗普政府期间任命和确认的联邦法官进行的一项审查发现，近十几名法官在被告观看、拥有、运输或分发儿童色情制品的案件中做出了低于指导原则的判决。

记录显示，第八巡回上诉法院的法官拉尔夫·埃里克森(Ralph Erickson)在2017年得到了李森的支持，判处至少11起儿童色情案件的被告低于建议的刑期。

第六巡回法院法官阿穆尔·塔帕尔(Amul Thapar)在2018年被列入特朗普最高法院的候选人名单，他判处一名被判传播儿童色情制品的男子73个月监禁，而指导方针建议97-121个月。

Pool/Getty Images，文件

凯坦吉·布朗·杰克逊，被提名为美国哥伦比亚特区巡回法官.

记录显示，地区法院法官达布尼·弗里德里希(Dabney Friedrich)是特朗普任命的，曾与杰克逊法官一起在美国量刑委员会工作过一段时间，他也在至少四起儿童色情案件中做出了低于指导原则的判决。

霍利指责杰克逊在任职期间主张通过取消儿童色情的强制性最低刑期来“彻底改变”对性犯罪者的判决。但他没有提到该委员会的共和党任命人——包括法官弗里德里希——也支持修改判决全票通过。

“当时委员会中有三名共和党人，包括第11巡回法院的法官比尔·普赖尔(Bill Pryor)、边境地区的法官里卡多·伊诺霍萨(Ricardo Hinojosa)和唐纳德·特朗普(Donald Trump)任命的法官达布尼·弗里德里希(Dabney Friedrich)，”NYU大学法学院副院长、前量刑委员会成员雷切尔·巴尔科(Rachel Barkow)说。"我认为他们三人不会被贴上对犯罪手软的标签。"

多个独立的事实检查器，包括美国联合通讯社(Associated Press)和华盛顿邮报揭穿了霍利的大部分主张。白宫称它们是“有毒的、缺乏说服力的错误信息”

“就参议员霍利而言，底线是:他错了，”参议院司法委员会主席迪克·德宾说在ABC新闻“本周”上说“他的分析既不准确也不公平。杰克逊法官比我能想到的任何人都更受关注。这是她第四次来到参议院司法委员会，前三次，她都获得了成功和两党的支持。”

Fact Check: Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson child porn sentences ‘pretty mainstream’

Supreme Court confirmation hearings for JudgeKetanji Brown Jacksonopen this week amida flurryof misleading allegations by Republican Sen. Josh Hawley that the nominee has a "long record" of letting child porn offenders "off the hook" during sentencing.

"In every single child porn case for which we can find records, Judge Jackson deviated from the federal sentencing guidelines in favor of child porn offenders," Hawley tweeted Thursday, highlighting nine cases from her time as a district court judge.

While court records show that Jackson did impose lighter sentences than federal guidelines suggested, Hawley's insinuation neglects critical context, including the fact that the senator himself has voted to confirm at least three federal judges who also engaged in the same practice.

Federal Appeals Court Judges Joseph Bianco of the Second Circuit and Andrew Brasher of the Eleventh Circuit, both Trump appointees, had each previously sentenced defendants convicted of possessing child pornography to prison terms well below federal guidelines at the time they were confirmed with Hawley's support, an ABC review of court records found.

Hawley's office did not immediately respond to ABC News' request for comment on the votes.

"If and when we properly contextualize Judge Jackson's sentencing record in federal child porn cases, it looks pretty mainstream,"wroteDoug Berman, a leading expert on sentencing law and policy at The Ohio State University School of Law.

"Federal judges nationwide typically sentence below the [child porn] guideline in roughly 2 out of 3 cases," Bermannoted on his blog, and "when deciding to go below the [child porn] guideline, typically impose sentences around 54 months below the calculated guideline minimum."

Berman also points out that government prosecutors often request below-range sentences, including in most of the Jackson cases that Hawley cited.

"The guidelines are now purely advisory, and many judges of all stripes routinely find that within-guidelines sentences are unduly harsh, in particular when it comes to first-time offenders," said Cardozo Law professor and ABC News legal analyst Kate Shaw.

TheU.S. Sentencing Commission, the bipartisan body created by Congress to set federal sentencing rules, explainedin its 2021 reportthat suggested prison terms for defendants convicted of possessing child pornography – as opposed to producing the materials – have "been subject to longstanding criticism from stakeholders and has one of the lowest rates of within-guideline range sentences each year."

"Less than one-third (30.0%) of non-production child pornography offenders received a sentence within the guideline range in fiscal year 2019," the report said.

"Judge Jackson's record in these [child porn] cases does show she is quite skeptical of the ranges set by the [child porn] guidelines, but so too were prosecutors in the majority of her cases and so too are district judges nationwide (appointed by presidents of both parties)," Berman wrote.

Republican Sen. Mike Lee of Utah, a member of the Judiciary Committee, suggested Thursday that regardless of the context around Judge Jackson's sentences he remains concerned. "The White House's whataboutist response to Judge Jackson's very real record in child pornography cases is dismissive, dangerous, and offensive. We need real answers,"he tweeted.

An ABC News review of federal judges appointed and confirmed during the Trump administration found nearly a dozen had handed down below-guideline sentences in cases of defendants viewing, possessing, transporting or distributing child pornography.

Judge Ralph Erickson of the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, confirmed in 2017 with support from Sen. Lee, sentenced defendants in at least 11 child porn cases to prison terms below the recommendation, records show.

Sixth Circuit Judge Amul Thapar, who was on Trump's Supreme Court short list in 2018, sentenced a man convicted of distribution of child pornography to 73 months behind bars when the guidelines suggested 97-121 months.

District Court Judge Dabney Friedrich, a Trump-appointee who served alongside Judge Jackson on the U.S. Sentencing Commission for a time, also issued below-guidelines sentences in at least four child porn cases, records show.

Hawley accused Jackson of advocating "for drastic change" in sex offender sentencing by eliminating mandatory minimum sentences for child porn while on the Commission. But he failed to mention that the panel's Republican appointees – including Judge Friedrich – also supported revising the sentencesin a unanimous vote.

"There were three Republicans on the Commission at the time including Judge Bill Pryor of the 11th Circuit, Ricardo Hinojosa, a judge in a border district, and Judge Dabney Friedrich, who was appointed to the bench by Donald Trump," said Rachel Barkow, vice dean of NYU Law School and a former Sentencing Commission member. "I don't think the three of them would be labeled soft on crime."

Multiple independent fact-checkers, includingAPand theWashington Post, have debunked the bulk of Hawley’s claims. The White House has called them "toxic and weakly-presented misinformation."

"As far as Senator Hawley is concerned, here's the bottom line: He's wrong," Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Sen. Dick Durbinsaid on ABC News "This Week.""He's inaccurate and unfair in his analysis. Judge Jackson has been scrutinized more than any person I can think of. This is her fourth time before the Senate Judiciary Committee, and three previous times, she came through with flying colors and bipartisan support."