Threats rising against federal judges; court watchers blame political rhetoric

Threats against federal judges have nearly doubled over a three-year period. Court watchers say heated political rhetoric is contributing to the hostile environment surrounding the judiciary.

The number of threats against judges climbed from 178 in 2019 to 311 in 2022, according to a report from Bloomberg Law, citing data from the U.S. Marshals Service obtained by a Freedom of Information Act request. There were 280 such threats in the first three months of 2023.

According to federal and state authorities, recent threats include:

• A woman from Port Charlotte, Florida, was charged last month with making a phone call in which she threatened to kill a federal judge in Texas.

• An inmate in a state prison in Midway, Texas, was charged last month with mailing a letter in which he threatened to kill or injure a federal judge.

• A Texas was arrested in August and accused of sending a threatening email to a judge in the District of Columbia overseeing the election interference prosecution of former President Donald Trump.

• The FBI earlier this month said it is investigating a flood of threats made on social media against the four Colorado Supreme Court justices who ruled Mr. Trump ineligible to appear on the state’s 2024 Republican primary ballot.

Court watchers say partisan verbal and online attacks among politicians have spurred the uptick in threats against the judiciary.

Elliot Mincberg, senior fellow at People For the American Way, said a culture of violence and the number of guns available are contributing factors to the increase. But he also said Mr. Trump’s criticism of judges who rule against his administration — or him personally — has fueled hostility.

He also said that some people view the 6-3 conservative majority on the Supreme Court, with three justices appointed by Mr. Trump, as bucking precedent and acting on ideology.

“Judges are not reaching principled decisions, and, frankly, there is some validity in that — at least, in my view, at the Supreme Court level,” Mr. Mincberg said. “These judges, some people believe, are effectively politicians.

“I have to say that Trump’s attitude towards the courts doesn’t help, and probably hurts,” he added.

In 2017, Mr. Trump lashed out at U.S. District Judge James Robart, who had ruled against his administration’s first travel ban, by calling him a “so-called judge.” Judge Robart subsequently received thousands of threatening messages, according to reports.

One of the most widely covered judicial threats occurred last year: Nicholas John Roske is accused of traveling from California with plans to assassinate Supreme Court Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh. Mr. Roske called authorities on himself while he was in front of the justice’s home in Chevy Chase, Maryland.

Mr. Roske, who is in federal custody, does not yet have a trial date. He told investigators he was motivated by the justice’s position on abortion and guns in upcoming rulings.

Justice Kavanaugh later sided in those cases with the conservative majority — overturning Roe v. Wade, which had established a national right to abortion, and striking down a New York gun control law in a historic Second Amendment ruling.

Republicans have blamed Democrats — like Sen. Charles E. Schumer of New York — for rhetoric against Justice Kavanaugh in sparking the hate.

Outside the Supreme Court in 2020, Mr. Schumer rallied pro-choice supporters over a different abortion case, saying “I want to tell you, [Justice Neil M.] Gorsuch, I want to tell you, Kavanaugh — you have released the whirlwind, and you will pay the price. You won’t know what hit you, if you go forward with these awful decisions.”

Following the reversal of Roe, pro-choice activists have protested outside the homes of conservative justices. Despite concerns from neighbors, police have largely let the protests proceed.

“Democrats lost control of the federal judiciary,” said Mike Davis, president of the Article III Project. “Now Democrats are supporting illegal protests at Supreme Court justices’ homes.”

He said Mr. Trump is being charged over inciting the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol attack, but under that same standard, “Did Chuck Schumer incite an assassination attempt?”

Carrie Severino, president of the Judicial Crisis Network, said judges aren’t political — it’s the Democrats and their financial backing that is making the court a target for bullying.

“The rise in threats against judges is no surprise when we have seen such a concerted attack on the judiciary from left-wing dark money groups and Senate Democrats, whose goal is to delegitimize an originalist court,” she said.

“What’s going on here is a classic case of projection. The Court’s critics are using name-calling to bully them into ruling in favor of their liberal agenda items rather than simply following the law. There’s politicization going on all right, but it’s not the judges who are being political,” Ms. Severino said.

The Justice Department does not keep data on the number of prosecutions made against federal judges, noting it tracks charges under statutes and not by victim class.

In November, the department announced it was prosecuting two individuals who threatened federal judges in Texas. One of them — Alice Marie Pence of Port Charlotte, Florida — is charged with making a phone call and threatening to kill Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, according to the Office of the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas.

She also is charged with trying to impede or intimidate the judge. If convicted, she could face 15 years in prison. Ms. Pence is accused of calling the chambers of Judge Kacsmaryk, a Trump appointee who ruled that the Food and Drug Administration should not have approved the abortion pill.

Not all threats against judges have been based on politics.

U.S. District Judge Esther Salas lost her son in 2020, when a gunman opened fire at their home in New Jersey. The gunman also had killed a California lawyer, according to reports. The suspect had a list of other targets, authorities said.

In 2013, U.S. District Judge Timothy Corrigan had a defendant he ruled against open fire at him in his home, barely missing his head.

State judges also have often been targets.

In October, Circuit Court Judge Andrew Wilkinson of Washington County, Maryland, was shot and killed in his driveway by a man who had lost custody of his children in divorce proceedings before the judge.