Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) was scolded by Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Dick Durbin (D-IL) after asking to see confidential court documents involving child sex abuse victims in cases overseen by Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson.
Republican senators have tried to raise concerns about sentences handed down in those cases by Jackson, and Blackburn asked to see pre-sentencing memos that have been placed under court seal to protect the minor victims.
"I want to ask you, some of us have been wanting those pre-sentencing memos, are we going to be able to have the access to those memos?" Blackburn asked. "I know we sent a letter to you, where do we stand?"
Durbin said the committee had consulted prosecutors and victims' rights organizations, and they agreed the memos should remain sealed to protect the victims' privacy.
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"This is very confidential, sensitive information, which is usually only seen by a judge," Durbin said. "To run the risk of bringing to the committee and it jeopardizing our innocence -- I'd like to finish -- jeopardizing or worse -- innocent third parties are children who have been victimized, I'm sorry, senator, I am not giving party to that. I would not want that on my conscious that we did that for a political exercise here, which i think is unnecessary. I am going to resist at every step of the way."
Blackburn insisted she had no wish to harm children, but Durbin fired back.
"If you are a parent of some child who has been exploited and you recognize the judge's name that has presided at the trial and now realize the report that has been kept in confidence all these years is going to be handed over to the United States Senate Judiciary Committee, what would you think as a mother, if this was your daughter or child?" Durbin said. "I would think this is an act that is reckless and to do this in political -- well, we're going to do this one more step pursuit, which has never before been done by the Senate Judiciary Committee, [that's] unacceptable on my watch. I do not want this on my conscious."
Blackburn pressed on, saying that she wanted to ensure that judges on the federal bench and Supreme Court justices would protect children, and she baselessly claimed that Durbin and other members of the committee had already seen the memos.
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"I can't see them and I don't want to see them," Durbin said. "It has not been given to the White House or any member of the Judiciary Committee that I know and I am not going to be party to any effort."
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