DICK DURBIN LEADS THE CHARGE TO PROTECT CHILD PORNOGRAPHERS.
Last week, Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) introduced the Protect Act of 2022. You can read the text of the bill here, but the Reader’s Digest version is that it would create minimum mandatory sentencing for offenses for child pornography and keep judges from imposing lighter sentences.
The bill faced stiff opposition from Democrats in the Senate, including Dick Durbin, who denied Hawley unanimous consent. Durbin asked: “Why now? I know why. He said as much. This senator has suggested over the course of the last two weeks and hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee that somehow this judge… aspiring to the Supreme Court is out of the mainstream when it comes to sentencing in child pornography cases.”
Well, Dick, why not now? Please explain to me why this is a bad bill. I know your side has dumped millions into getting your nominee confirmed. I know you dream of using the Supreme Court as a juggernaut to ensure that every one of your fevered dreams is enshrined as law no matter the vox populi. After all, you were in favor of a similar bill back in 2003. Remember that?
To his credit, Hawley did not back down, stating: “The Senator from Illinois says Congress hasn’t acted in 2 decades. That’s true. I haven’t been here for 2 decades. He has, the Senator doesn’t want tougher sentences, he doesn’t want to talk about this issue, he wants to sweep it under the rug. I’m here to say I won’t let that happen.”
Related: Dick Durbin Is a Bad Joke on Supreme Court Nominees.