Ted Cruz Grills Biden’s Judicial Nominee Over Her Ruling to Put a Serial Rapist in a Woman’s Prison

Cruz: “Judge Netburn I’m going to continue on this line of questioning. In your court what matters more, the rights of individuals or your political ideology?”
NETBURN: “I apply the law to the facts —“ [crosstalk]
Cruz: “I asked the question, which matters more?”
NETBURN: “My political ideology doesn’t matter at all.”
Cruz: “OK. So I don’t believe you. And I think this case demonstrates that you are willing to subjugate the rights of individuals to satisfy your political ideology. This case, involves a male defendant who raped a 9-year-old boy. Was he guilty of that?”
NETBURN: “Yes, the petitioner pled guilty to that.”
Cruz: “OK, so he raped a 9-year-old-boy. He also raped a 17-year-old girl, was he guilty of that?”
NETBURN: “He pled guilty. The petitioner pled guilty of that crime as well.”
Cruz: “So was he guilty?”
NETBURN: “I hope so because she pled guilty to it.”
Cruz: “He was a he when he did this.”
NETBURN: “That’s correct.”
Cruz: “And also criminal deviant conduct, which the record doesn’t — doesn’t disclose what that it was exactly. Then, after serving in prison, Mr. McClain was released for parole, but then violated the terms of parole by having Internet and was sent back to prison. One year after being released again, he was convicted of having child pornography. Is that correct?”
NETBURN: “I’m unclear on exactly the timeframe that you’re at, but — but the petitioner was convicted of distributing child pornography.
Cruz: “Child pornography, that — that was images of adults violently raping children.”
NETBURN: “Abhorrent conduct —”
Cruz: “OK.”
NETBURN: “— for which there are real victims.”
Cruz: “And this individual, 6’ 2,” biologically a man, a minute ago, you said that when this man decided that he was a she, you said this individual was, quote — I wrote it down — sober and entirely a female. That phrase struck me as — as remarkable. Did this individual have male genitalia.”
NETBURN: “I think what I said, or at least what I —“ [crosstalk]
Cruz: “That is a verbatim quote, ‘entirely a female.’“
NETBURN: “Sorry, what I meant to say was hormonally a female.”
Cruz: “OK, but that’s not entirely. Did this individual have male genitalia?”
NETBURN: “Yes.”
Cruz: “So you took a 6’ 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.’ Let me ask you something. The other women in that prison, did they have any rights?”
NETBURN: “Is — is that a question you’re asking me?”
Cruz: “Yes. The other women in that prison do they have any rights?”
NETBURN: “Of course.”
Cruz: “Do they have the right not to have a 6’ 2” man who is a repeat serial rapist put in as their cellmate?”
NETBURN: “Senator Cruz, I considered the facts presented to me and I reached the decision based on what the law says.” [crosstalk]
Cruz: “I asked you a question. I asked you a question. Do they have a right not to have a 6’ 2” man who is a serial rapist put in as their cellmate? Do those women have a right to that?”
NETBURN: “Every person who’s incarcerated has the right to be safe in their space.”
Cruz: “But you didn’t think so? You didn’t think so. And in fact, I’m going to give some quotes from your order. Because Senator Kennedy is right. This is not a judge’s order. This is a political activist. By the way, the beginning of your order says at birth, people are typically assigned a gender. I got to say that would astonish a lot of Americans. A lot of Americans think you — you go to the hospital, a baby’s born and congratulations, you have a little boy, a little girl. The assigned a gender, I know you went to Brown, but it sounds like it’s in a college faculty lounge with no bearing on reality. The Bureau of Prisons argued what I’m saying right now that if you put this person in a female prison there will be a risk of sexual assault to the women. And you know what you did? You said you didn’t care about the women. I’m going to quote what you wrote. You wrote, quote, ‘The Bureau of Prisons claimed penological interest in protecting female prisoners from sexual violence and trauma. This interest is legitimate’ — that’s kind of easy to say — ‘but there are no signs that petitioner is at risk of reoffending. The record is devoid of evidence of incidents of violence or assault during petitioners incarceration when she was the perpetrator, only the victim, a theoretical risk of sexual assault by the prisoner without more cannot support the BOP’s position.’ No evidence theoretical. Have you dealt — in what universe is someone who is a serial repeat child rapist not at a risk of reoffending?”
NETBURN: “Senator, as I do in every case —”
Cruz: “OK. I know you’ve been told to repeat the line and I follow the law. I asked a question, In what universe is someone who is a serial repeat child rapist not at risk of reoffending?”
NETBURN: “Sir, I looked at the facts that were before me in this case. All of the evidence, including the statements of every warden who had supervised this petitioner —”
Cruz: “You — you also wrote, ‘The BOP also posits that permitting petitioner to live among women will be traumatizing and possibly dangerous to them. This concern is overblown.’ 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’ 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. I think you’re a radical and I think you have no business being a judge.”
BUTLER: “Judge Netburn, there was an opportunity during your exchange with Senator Cruz that you were attempting to offer a response relative to the — the conditions under which this petitioner was unsafe in the facilities in which she was being held. I’d like to offer you the opportunity to finish that response.”
NETBURN: “So the facts that were presented to me and what I relied on to make my decision were that the petitioner had engaged in no violence, no physical violence, no acts of sexual violence whatsoever while in custody. All three wardens who supervise the petitioner requested that she be transferred to a women’s facility because of her serious medical needs. In addition, the Bureau of Prisons long-time medical provider testified at a two-day hearing in my courtroom, and recommended that the petitioner be transferred because of her serious medical needs. And the last thing I’ll say is that the Transgender Executive Council, which is the body that makes decisions on behalf of transgender transfer requests within the Bureau of Prisons, never said that the petitioner could not be transferred, and never, ever said that she couldn’t be transferred because of any risk of violence. What the Transgender Executive Council repeatedly said in denying the request was simply that she needed to maintain her hormone levels. That was the repeated justification for the denial of transfer. But the petitioner had reached full female hormone levels before even being incarcerated. At the time, the district judge in Indiana who sentenced the petitioner requested that she’d be placed in a women’s facility, her hormones were entirely female at that point, and so the decision by the Transgender Executive Council to deny the transfer request based on this idea that it was only because her hormones needed to be consistent and stabilized, I found was a pretext. But they never once said she cannot be transferred because of violence. It was always based on this idea that her hormones had to be —”
BUTLER: “Thank you Judge Netburn. Senator Padilla.”
Cruz: “Are we —“ [crosstalk]
BUTLER: “No, no, no.”
Cruz: “No, no, no. May I have a follow up. May I have a follow up.” [crosstalk]
BUTLER: “No, there is no follow up. No, there is no — there is —”
Cruz: “That’s exactly how it works. That is exactly how it works. If you don’t allow follow up — you didn’t get extra time. And she just directly contradicted her own report. I’m just going to read her own words —“ [crosstalk]
UNKNOWN FEMALE: “Be fair, Madam Chair.”
Cruz: “— because they’re the opposite of what she said. Your own report —”
BUTLER: “Senators — senators, I — I gave both of you more time to finish your line of questioning.”
Cruz: “You — you allowed the witness but then —“ [crosstalk]
BUTLER: “I’ve allowed the witness to finish her — I’ve allowed the witness to finish her response.”
Cruz: “You’re abusing your status as chair. I understand that you’re scared of the attacks.” [crosstalk]
BUTLER: “Senator Padilla.”
Kennedy: “Madam Chair — Madam Chair opened up testimony and then not —“ [crosstalk]
Cruz: “She has an obligation to explain why she directly contradicted what she wrote in her report. She says in her report, ‘The Bureau of Prisons claimed penological interest is in protecting female prisoners from sexual violence and trauma.’ She just told you, the Bureau of Prisons didn’t say there was a concern about sexual violence and trauma. Those are directly contradictory and why are you contradicting what you wrote in your report?” [crosstalk]
BUTLER: “Senator — Senator Padilla.”
PADILLA: “I believe I have the floor.”
UNKNOWN FEMALE: “No, wait. Point of order. Point of order.”
BUTLER: “Senator Padilla.”
Cruz: “Are you going to let her answer that question —”
BUTLER: “Senator Padilla.”
Cruz: “— or you — or you don’t want her to answer that question.”
BUTLER: “Senator Padilla.”
PADILLA: “Thank you very much, Madam Chair.”
Kennedy: “This is a cover-up, Madam Chair.”
BUTLER: “Senator Padilla.”
Cruz: “You’re afraid of the answer to that question.”
Kennedy: “This is a cover-up.”
BUTLER: “Senator Padilla.”
Cruz: “Are you afraid of the answer to that question?”
BUTLER: “Senator Padilla.”
PADILLA: “It’s my time —”
Cruz: “So, yes, you’re afraid of the answer to that question.”
Kennedy: “This is ridiculous!”
BUTLER: “Senator Padilla.”
PADILLA: “It’s called my time.”
Cruz: “Clearly, you’re afraid of the answer to that question.”