Sen. John Kennedy slams Biden-nominated judge who wrote child molester had a 'lot of good in him,' cut half of convict's sentence

On Thursday, Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) grilled a Biden judicial nominee about her 2023 decision to cut the jail sentence in half for a man who molested two girls, ages 4 and 9 and wrote in her opinion that the criminal has a “lot of good in him.” 

Maine Superior Court Judge Julia Lipez was nominated by Democratic President Joe Biden to fill a vacancy on the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. 

During the Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing on Thursday, Kennedy asked Lipez about the March 2023 sentencing of Michael Smith, during which the judge suspended half of Smith’s 12-year prison sentence for molesting two girls, one four years old and the other nine years old, claiming the defendant was “a person who has a lot of good in him.” 

Kennedy began, “Judge Lipez, you have more sympathy for the criminal than the victim, don’t you?” noting, “Mr. Smith molested a 4-year-old girl, didn’t he?” 

Lipez replied, “Senator, he was convicted after trial of unlawful sexual contact under Maine law.”  

Kennedy shot back, “That’s a nice way of putting it.” 

Smith’s victims reportedly suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder and night terrors as a result of the abuse, and Kennedy asked Lipez if Smith “molested” the nine-year-old victim. Lipez replied, “Senator, again, he was convicted of unlawful sexual contact against two children. In that case, I did impose the sentence the state requested.” 

Kennedy read a graphic description Smith’s actions, saying, “This is how Mr. Smith’s conduct was described, quote—you heard this testimony, ‘All of the abuse is done in the same fashion. Smith would rub his fingers in a circular motion on the vagina of each child, and he did so repeatedly.’” 

The senator then added, “Now where I come from, we call that sexual abuse. You can pretty it up all you want to—judge. This is what you said at [Smith’s] sentencing. These are your words, not mine. ‘What I can say,’ you said, ‘is that this is a very tragic situation of a person who has a lot of good in him,’ a lot of good in him, ‘having done a very reprehensible thing to two young children causing extreme damage.’ Did I read that correctly?” 

Lipez claimed she sentenced Smith per the state’s request to which Kennedy reiterated the question, “Did I read your quotation correctly?” to which Lipez admitted she had made the statement. 

Kennedy said, “I bet the victims remember, judge ... And then you handed down a sentence. You gave Mr. Smith 12 years, but you suspended six of ’em, didn’t you?” 

Lipez again repeated that the sentence was the “recommendation of the state.”