Ted Cruz rages at judicial nominee in hearing for recognizing an inmate as trans

Sens. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and John Kennedy (R-LA) both angrily questioned a Biden judicial nominee, U.S. Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn, because she recognized a trans inmate as a woman.

“I think you’re radical, and I think you have no business being a judge,” said Cruz.

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The 46-year-old Bronx man faces hate crimes charges.

The inmate, July Justine Shelby, stirred controversy in the hearing because she was transferred to a women’s prison as a sex offender. 

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“The facts of the case were that the petitioner had last engaged in a contact offense 30 years ago, the petitioner had not engaged in any contact offense. In addition, the medical evidence made clear that for the last five years the petitioner was sober and hormonally entirely a female,” said Netburn at the confirmation hearing.

She was transferred to a women’s prison instead of a male prison because she is a woman who, Judge Netburn said, was having her rights under the Eighth Amendment violated, citing Estelle v Gamble.

The two senators repeatedly cut off Netburn’s statements, ignoring facts about the case and choosing to appeal to the inmate’s offense history, accusing Netburn of being a “political activist.”

Three wardens and a district judge supported Netburn’s recommendation to house her in a women’s prison, which was based on the violence Shelby faced while incarcerated and her medical needs as a transgender individual.

Transgender individuals who are registered sex offenders are more likely to be victims of enhanced police violence and to be victimized sexually and physically by other prison inmates.

Shelby is currently being housed with other female violent offenders. Cisgender female sex offenders convicted of similar offenses are also housed in women’s prisons.

Shelby’s criminal record includes the rape and molestation of two minors – one nine-year-old boy and one 17-year-old girl – and distributing child pornography to other sex offenders. 

Kennedy and Cruz repeatedly stressed that Shelby is tall, possibly implying that that means she’s not a woman.

“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,'” Cruz said. “Let me ask you something. The other women in that prison, do they have any rights?”

“Every person who is incarcerated has the right to be safe in their space,” Netburn replied.

Out Sen. Laphonza Butler (D-CA) allowed Netburn to actually finish her answer to Cruz’s questions since he kept on cutting her off. 

“The petitioner had engaged in no violence, no physical violence, no sexual violence whatsoever while in custody,” Netburn said. “All three wardens who supervised the petitioner requested that she be transferred to a women’s facility because of her serious medical needs. In addition, the Bureau of Prisons’ longtime medical provider testified at a two-day hearing in my courtroom, and recommended the petitioner be transferred because of her serious needs.”

“The Transgender Executive Council, which is the body that makes decisions on behalf of transgender transfer requests, never said that the petitioner could not be transferred and never ever said she couldn’t be transferred because of any risk of violence. The Transgender Executive Council said in denying her request that she needed to maintain her hormone levels.”

“The petitioner had reached full female hormone levels before being incarcerated. At the time, the district judge in Indiana requested that she be placed in a women’s facility. Her hormones were entirely female at that point, and so the decision based on the Transgender Executive Council denied her transfer request because her hormones needed to be consistent and stabilized was always based on this idea having to be [the same as a cis woman].”

Cruz and Kennedy verbally berated Butler, who had allowed them to have extra time to question Netburn.

Conservative media has spread the story but has generally left out the full transcript of both lines of questioning, instead selectively quoting areas where Netburn is forced to give incomplete answers.

Cruz also incorrectly claimed Netburn contradicted her initial report, which stated that Shelby was at risk of sexual violence, while her testimony referred to Shelby’s risk of conducting sexual violence herself.

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