Columbia Standard

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, made a statement after the committee voted to block Sarah Netburn’s nomination to be a U.S. District Court Judge for the Southern District of New York. Her nomination failed by a vote of 10-11, with ten committee Democrats voting in favor and one committee Democrat joining all Republicans in voting no.

"The Senate Judiciary Committee rightly rejected the nomination of Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn to be a U.S. District Court Judge in the Southern District of New York," said Graham. "This was the first bipartisan rejection by committee vote of a radical judge sent to the committee by the Biden Administration."

Graham highlighted that "Magistrate Netburn recommended the transfer of a 6’2” biological male – who was a convicted serial child sex offender – to a female prison after the inmate decided to transition to a woman at the age of 51." He noted that "the Bureau of Prisons objected to this transfer, but Judge Netburn believed that there was nothing more than a theoretical risk to female inmates if this biological male inmate was transferred to a women’s prison."

The committee received over one hundred letters from women’s rights groups and individuals—including female prisoners—objecting to having this biological male housed in a female prison.

"Yesterday, media reports indicated that the inmate in question has exposed his male genitalia to female prisoners," Graham stated. "All of the concerns expressed by Republicans on the committee have come true."

Graham concluded, "Finally, while the committee voted this nominee down, all but one Democrat voted to move forward. I hope the American people are watching what’s going on when it comes to the Democratic agenda."

He added, "Female prisoners being housed with biological males is an affront to safety and common sense, and it needs to stop."

Background on Netburn's nomination indicates that this is the first time a Biden judicial nominee has failed a committee vote. At her nomination hearing, Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn was repeatedly questioned over her 2022 recommendation that a biological male convicted pedophile and child rapist “be immediately transferred to a women’s facility” over objections from the Bureau of Prisons.

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