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Not recommending guideline sentences. the probation office which is an independent authority, looking at these cases and the facts related to them are not recommending guideline sentences. this is a particular area where the commission has seen an enormous amount of disparity and is in fact asked congress to come back and address, to help judges who are looking at these cases to be able to rely on the guidelines. >> which congress has declined to do. >> senator, in that case, we have the statute that congress has enacted concerning penalties and we have judges who are doing their level best to...

Are. but it is not as if there is one set of guidelines that a federal sentencing guidelines and others are the probation guidelines. the probation office is giving advice to the judge. it varies case by case but it is not the same. >> sorry. i thought you were done. >> let me ask but a specific case. i listed these seven cases in which you had discretion and you did not follow the prosecutor's recommendation. let's talk about one of them. we've talked about them as a group. let's talk about the united states versus hawkins. that's one you probably remember. from 2013 interesting defendant was...

Breaking news week, following the historic u.s. nomination hearings for judge kentanji brown jackson. let's go live to the u.s. senate where the question and answer questions is underway. senator josh hawley, republican, asking the questions. >> the probation office doesn't issue sentencing guidelines. they're not public. they're not recommended to all judges. the probation office provides advice to judges case by case, usually in private. usually not available to the public. is that right, judge? >> not exactly, senator. the probation office in criminal cases is assigned by the court to work ...

It is about all the other kinds of restraint that sex offenders are ordered rightly to live under at the end of the day. sentences in these cases include not only prison time but restraints on computer use. sometimes for decades. restraints on ability to go near children. sometime for decades. all of these things judges consider in order to effect what congress has required, which is a sentence that is sufficient but not greater than necessary. to promote the purposes of punishment. >> let me ask but that last point. you've said this a couple times now. the sentence that's congress requires. c...

In the company of sonia sotomayor in that respect. so it does give her an opportunity to do something that i think her supporters believe makes her an asset. she has a lot of experience as a judge in a lot of different areas. she understands a lot of different aspects of the criminal justice system. and that was very much on display. the fact that senator hawley spent a lot of time on this singular case was probably to no effect. i don't think it really changes the dynamic of her nomination. and, in fact, in all of the questioning that came before it, she had a lot of opportunities to talk abo...