by First Liberty Institute • 8 min read
Sarah Netburn, a U.S. Magistrate Judge nominated by President Biden for a federal district court seat in New York, recently said she is “unqualified” to define what a woman is.
This came in response to a question from Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, who was referring to one of Netburn’s rulings which ordered a male to be housed in a women’s prison.
“Is it possible to determine a person’s sex by only analyzing their chromosomes?” the South Carolina Republican asked the nominee.
“I have never studied biology and therefore I am unqualified to answer this question,” Judge Netburn responded.
In 2022, Netburn recommended that a male child sex abuser be transferred to a female prison after the inmate decided to identify as a woman. The inmate had been convicted of raping two children: a 17-year-old girl and a nine-year-old boy. The inmate was also convicted of distributing child sex abuse material. Her decision to move the prisoner conflicted with the recommendation from the Bureau of Prisons.
“I issued a report and recommendation to the district judge recommending that the district judge transfer the petitioner to a women’s facility,” Netburn told the Senate Judiciary Committee last month.
Upon Netburn’s recommendation, U.S. District Judge Broderick issued an order to the Bureau of Prisons requesting the agency “transfer Ms. Shelby to a female facility as soon as possible.”
Netburn faced intense questions by members of the Judiciary Committee over her decision.
Biden’s nominee to be the judge for the Southern District of New York, Sarah Netburn, is an absolute radical.
She puts ideology before safety when it comes to housing biological men in women’s prisons.
When the Bureau of Prisons WARNED against housing a convicted serial child… pic.twitter.com/4QcMNUbAqC
— Senator Ted Cruz (@SenTedCruz) May 22, 2024
This is also not the first time a Biden nominee has been unable to give a straight answer on what a woman is.
Virtually the same thing happened during the confirmation hearings for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson back in 2022.
Sen. Marsha Blackburn asked the then-Supreme Court nominee to define the word “woman.”
“I can’t,” Jackson replied.
“You can’t?” Blackburn said.
“Not in this context. I’m not a biologist,” Jackson said.
“The meaning of the word woman is so unclear and controversial that you can’t give me a definition?” Blackburn said. ““The fact that you can’t give me a straight answer about something as fundamental as what a woman is underscores the dangers of the kind of progressive education that we are hearing about.”
If a judge cannot make a correct ruling because they are unable to identify what a woman is, what confidence does that give the American people in their ability to uphold the rule of law?
Our judges are in place to uphold the law as it is written, not to create laws that suit their needs or the agendas of any one side. If progressive judges refuse to interpret our laws as they were intended, our entire system is in danger and our Constitution is nothing more than an outdated piece of paper.
To protect our first freedoms, judges must be protectors of the law, not creators of it. Our founders knew the importance of the words they wrote, and it is no mistake that religious freedom is one of the first rights the founders chose to protect.
Learn more:
National Review: Sarah Netburn Does Not Deserve a Lifetime Appointment
The Daily Caller: Biden Judicial Nom Who Sent Biological Male To Women’s Prison Says She’s ‘Unqualified’ To Define What A Woman Is
Washington Examiner: Biden judicial nominee can’t say whether chromosomes determine sex: ‘I have never studied biology’
National Review: Ted Cruz Grills Judicial Nominee Who Transferred Trans Child Rapist to Women’s Prison
Senators Taking a Stand Against Progressive Judges
A growing number of U.S. Senators are vowing not to support any of President Joe Biden’s judicial nominees, which effectively blocks the appointment of new district judges in Florida, Ohio, Wisconsin, and other states six months before Election Day.
The effort began with eights who signed an open letter laying out their position. More lawmakers have joined the effort since that letter was published on May 31.
“The White House has made a mockery of the rule of law and fundamentally altered our politics in un-American ways,” the letter states. “We are unwilling to aid and abet this White House in its project to tear this country apart. To that end, we will not…vote to confirm this administration’s political and judicial appointees.”
“Joe Biden and his army of partisan hack judges have weaponized our judicial system against his political opponent,” Sen. Roger Marshall of Kansas posted on X last week. “Words are not enough. Call on your Senator to join our fight— We will block every single Biden judicial nomination until America votes on November 5th.”
Strongly worded statements are not enough.
Those who turned our judicial system into a political cudgel must be held accountable.
We are no longer cooperating with any Democrat legislative priorities or nominations, and we invite all concerned Senators to join our stand. pic.twitter.com/H0CzIjXgwC
— Mike Lee (@SenMikeLee) May 31, 2024
The Biden administration recently confirmed its 200th federal judge. Biden is currently outpacing his predecessor in total judges confirmed at this point in their presidency.
The President and Democratic leaders have said they want to confirm as many nominees as possible to match, or possibly surpass, Trump’s total. 234 judges were confirmed during the Trump administration.
But growing opposition to the President’s picks is complicating the administration’s agenda. Couple that with many senators who will be on the campaign trail over the next several months, it appears less likely that Biden and his party could pull off confirming 234 or more judges.
Speaking on the Senate floor earlier this week, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell criticized Biden’s nominees for their “sheer incompetence” and as “unqualified for the bench.”
McConnell pointed to Judge Nancy Maldonado, selected for a seat on the U.S. Seventh Court of Appeals. McConnell and other senators have raised concern about a backlog of cases during her tenure as a federal district court judge. Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana said she had the worst backlog of any district court judge within the circuit.
“Confirming Judge Maldonado to that court would be taking a judge who has proven herself incapable of swimming in the shallow end of the pool and throwing her into Lake Michigan,” McConnell said.
For the mission of First Liberty to be advanced, we must have judges on the bench who will uphold the Constitution. If our judges adhere to the laws of the land as they are written and as our founders intended, religious freedom can flourish in this country once again.
That’s why now more than ever Americans must remain diligent and stand on guard to protect our country against extremist progressive judges who wish to change the very fabric of our country and take away Americans’ rights to openly express their faith without fear of retribution.
Learn More:
Bloomberg Law: Republicans Vow to Block Future Biden Judicial Nominees
Bloomberg Law: Durbin Unfazed by GOP Threat to Block Biden Court Picks
Sen. Mitch McConnell: For Good Judges, Reject Incompetent Nominees
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