A June 11 CNSNews.com article by Fred Lucas carries the headline “Obama’s Appeals Court Nominee Sent to Full Senate with Record of Leniency for Sex Offenders, Serial Killer.” Lucas himself writes that the judge in question, Robert Chatigny — whose nomination to be a federal appeals judge was recently advanced by the Senate Judiciary Committee — “has a record of lenient sentencing for sex offenders.” But none of the evidence Lucas provides offers any evidence of “leniency.”
Lucas recounts an incident in which Chatigny “took what many considered extraordinary judicial actions in 2005 to prevent the execution of a serial killer,” which amounted to making sure the killer was not mentally incompetent. While Lucas provides a mostly balanced detailing of Chatigny’s actions, he does not explain how that equates to “leniency.”
Lucas also stated that Chatigny “ruled as unconstitutional Connecticut’s Megan’s Law because it supposedly violates due process rights,” which was upheld by an appeals court but overturned by the Supreme Court. Again, Lucas did not explain how this equates to “leniency.”
Lucas’ MRC bretheren have previously promoted a factually misleading attack on Chatigny that selectively cites facts.