Ted Cruz torches Biden judicial nominee for recommending male rapist in women's prison

'I would say the entire justice system is absurd'

By Jon Brown, Christian Post Reporter
U.S. Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn defended her Aug. 3, 2022, recommendation that a male serial rapist be housed in a women's prison during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on May 22, 2024.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn defended her Aug. 3, 2022, recommendation that a male serial rapist be housed in a women's prison during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on May 22, 2024. | Senate Judiciary Committee

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, blasted a Biden judicial nominee on Wednesday for recommending that a trans-identifying man should be housed in a women's prison despite pleading guilty to child pornography and rape.

During her back-and-forth with Cruz at a contentious Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, U.S. Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn defended her Aug. 3, 2022, recommendation that William McClain, who identifies as a woman and has assumed the name July Justine Shelby, should be allowed to live with female inmates in a federal prison for medical reasons.

Netburn, whom President Joe Biden nominated to serve on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, claimed in the face of questioning about the case from both Cruz and Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., that she "[considered] the facts presented to me, and I reached a decision," adding that inmates have the right "to be safe in their space."

McClain was jailed at the Federal Correctional Institution in Otisville, New York, after being convicted of molesting a 9-year-old boy and raping a 17-year-old girl, as well as for disseminating violent child pornography, as Cruz noted.

Cruz, who emphasized that McClain stands 6-foot-2 and possesses male genitalia, probed Netburn regarding why she would find it acceptable that the admitted serial rapist and child pornographer be incarcerated with women.

"A minute ago, you said that when this man decided that he was a she, that you said this individual was, quote — I wrote it down — 'sober and entirely a female,'" Cruz said. "That phrase struck me as remarkable. Did this individual have male genitalia?"

"Sorry, what I meant to say was hormonally a female," Netburn responded before acknowledging that McClain has all the trappings of a man.

"So, you took a 6-foot-2 serial rapist, serial child rapist with male genitalia, and he said, 'You know, I'd like to be in a women's prison.' And your answer was, 'That sounds great to me,'" Cruz said.

"Let me ask you something: the other women in that prison, do they have any rights?" Cruz asked.

Claiming that the idea a baby is "assigned a gender" at birth "would astonish a lot of Americans," Cruz also snarked that Netburn is a Brown University graduate, and that her apparent belief "sounds like it's in a college faculty lounge with no bearing on reality."

Cruz summarized Netburn's ruling as evidence that she did not care about the women who would potentially be put at risk by being housed with a male serial rapist.

Netburn maintained her repeated answer that she ruled based on the facts presented to her, prompting Cruz to claim she is "a radical" who has "no business being a judge."

"I have to say, if I were the father of one of those women, and you decided that my daughter's cellmate was going to be a 6-foot-2 man who over and over and over again committed violent sexual assault, I would say the entire justice system is absurd. And 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 echoed Kennedy, who earlier grilled Netburn over the McClain case during the hearing.

"Miss Shelby said, 'I don't want to go to a male prison, I want to go to a female prison,'" Kennedy said. "And the Board of Prisons said, 'What planet did you parachute in from? You're going to a male prison with this kind of record?' And you sent him to a female prison, didn't you? You said that the Board of Prisons was trying to violate Ms. Shelby — former Mr. McClain's — constitutional right, didn't you?"

Kennedy suggested that despite her claims that she is not a political activist, her judicial record indicates otherwise.

Footage of the exchange between Netburn and Cruz tweeted out by swimmer Riley Gaines garnered tens of millions as of Thursday.

Jon Brown is a reporter for The Christian Post. Send news tips to [email protected]

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