The Senate Judiciary Committee voted on Thursday against a judicial nominee who had allowed a male serial rapist, who identifies as a woman, to be housed in a female prison.
President Joe Biden nominated Sarah Netburn to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, but the nomination was blocked by the Senate Judiciary Committee in a 10-11 vote. In August 2022, Netburn recommended the transfer of male inmate William McClain, who goes by July Justine Shelby, into a female prison despite his record of sex crimes, according to the Washington Free Beacon.
Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff of Georgia broke away from his fellow Democrats to vote against Netburn.
Absolute FIRE line of questioning from @SenTedCruz today
bravo!
“Do they have the right to not have a 6’2″ man who is a repeat serial rapist put in as their cell mate?” pic.twitter.com/TSzIMjdmmi
— Riley Gaines (@Riley_Gaines_) May 23, 2024
“So you took a six-foot-two serial rapist, serial child rapist, with male genitalia, and he said ‘You know, I’d like to be in a women’s prison,” Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas said during a committee hearing on Netburn’s judicial confirmation in May. “And your answer was, ‘That sounds great to me.’”
McClain was convicted in 1994 of molesting a 9-year old boy and raping a 17-year old girl, the Beacon reported. McClain was released in 2015, then was later sentenced in 2017 for distributing child pornography.
McClain has reportedly sexually harassed female inmates in the women’s prison, the Beacon reported. (RELATED: Convicted Child Rapist Housed In Women’s Prison After Claiming To Be Trans)
Federal prison officials objected to the transfer, but Netburn claimed that concerns about the transfer being “traumatizing and possibly dangerous” were “overblown,” the Beacon reported.
When confronted by Cruz during the committee hearing, Netburn referred to the male defendant as a “she” and said that “every person who is incarcerated has a right to feel safe in their space.”
“It is clear, on your record, your political ideology matters a heck of a lot more than the rights of those women that you endangered,” Cruz said during the committee hearing. “I think you’re a radical. I think you have no business being a judge.”
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