On Monday April 4th, 2022, US representative Marjorie Taylor Greene made a tweet calling Utah Sen. Mitt Romney and two other senators “pro-pedophile,” in regards to their support of Ketanji Brown Jackson, the first Black woman to serve as a justice on the US Supreme Court.

“Any Senator voting to confirm #KJB is pro-pedophile just like she is. There are MANY more qualified black women judges that actually can define what a woman is, but Biden chose the one that protects evil child predators. And then Romney, Murkowski, and Collins vote for her,” tweeted Greene.

When Greene calls the senators “pro-pedophile,” she is referring to the misconception that Ketanji Brown Jackson is lenient with child pornography cases and gives short sentences to those who are guilty of possession of child pornography. 

Many GOP lawmakers have pushed this false narrative that Jackson is lenient when it came to “treatment of sex offenders, especially those preying on children”, as Senator Josh Hawley puts it. 

The reasoning for this misconception is due to a case Jackson was appointed to in 2013.

The case involved Wesley Hawkins, a 19-year-old man who pleaded guilty to downloading and trading scores of images and videos of child sexual abuse, many involving boys under the age of 13.

The prosecution had asked Judge Jackson to sentence Mr. Hawkins to two years in prison. The argument was that his possession of the material was “extremely troubling and deserving of punishment.”

Hawkins’s lawyer was asking for one day in prison. He argued that his client was young and remorseful and claimed he suffered from “emerging mental illness.”

Judge Jackson decided to sentence Hawkins to three months in prison, followed by six years supervised release.

Many Republicans use this case to criticize Jackson and claim her to be “pro-pedophile.” During Jackson’s hearing, senators alleged Hawkins must have committed additional sex crimes in the nation’s capital to end up back before Jackson in 2019.

Jackson says she consistently weighs all statutory factors concerning sentencing, including the recommended sentence in the probation officer’s pre sentencing reports. Jackson’s sentences in cases involving child pornography “matched the recommendation by either the prosecution or the probation office in most of the cases,” as Sen. Richard Blumenthal said.

Despite the false accusations and the constant criticism that Katanji Brown Jackson faces, she was still able to push through and remain calm throughout her trial to become Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.

On April 7th, 2022 by a vote of 53-47, the U.S. Senate confirmed President Joe Biden’s nomination of Judge Jackson to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer. This makes Jackson the first Black Woman to serve on the Supreme Court.

Ketanji Brown Jackson is such an inspiration to many young Black girls, and she is living proof that it is possible to persevere through others’ disapproval and criticism.