Federal judges speak out about ongoing threats in rare panel session

Washington Post

6 days ago

One federal judge said he was targeted with a 'swatting' attack that drew authorities to his house under false pretenses after he ruled against the Trump administration.
Another judge told of receiving voicemails calling for his death. A third said he received a pizza delivery in the name of a colleague's slain son when he spoke out about anti-judge rhetoric.
In rare public remarks, a panel of U.S. district judges on Thursday offered firsthand accounts of the threats and harassment they said they and other jurists have faced since President Donald Trump returned to office and heaped criticism on the nation's court system.
Speaking in a forum organized by the nonpartisan judicial advocacy group Speak Up for Justice, the judges said attacks on the judiciary have reached levels they had not seen in decades-long careers in public service. They called for a coordinated response from officials across government to end the intimidation, saying it was eroding the rule of law and jeopardizing the safety of judges and their families.
'It's just been stunning to me how much damage has been done to the reputation of our judiciary because some political actors think that they can gain some advantage by attacking the independence of the judiciary,' said Judge John Coughenour, who was targeted with the swatting attack.
The virtual forum was part of an expanding effort by judges, lawyers, and legal experts to push back against what they describe as an increasingly hostile and menacing political climate. It included uncommon candor from the judges, who often limit their public speeches and interviews to issues related to court processes and the administration of law.
Chief Judge John McConnell of the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island said he was hesitant to speak about the barrage of threats that came after he temporarily blocked the Trump administration's broad freeze on federal grants and other spending. He said he felt compelled to raise public awareness because the attacks had grown so severe.
McConnell, an appointee of President Barack Obama, described how his chambers received more than 400 vitriolic phone calls in the spring, including one calling for him to be killed and threatening to 'come for him.' Right-wing influencers doxed the judge and his daughter, and billionaire Elon Musk called for his impeachment. The U.S. Marshals Service identified six credible death threats, he said, and assigned him a protective detail for months.
'I've never spoken about what's happened to me personally because I'm not looking for pity, and I'm not looking for sympathy,' McConnell said. 'I want to be able to just do my job again, and I want to be able to uphold the Constitution. And I want the public to speak out once again and support an independent judiciary.'
Threats against federal judges have risen for several years and have come from both sides of the political spectrum. Supreme Court justices have received round-the-clock protection since the conservative majority overturned abortion rights in 2022. District judges handling abortion-related cases and judges overseeing Trump's now-dismissed criminal cases have also received enhanced security.
A significant spike in threats occurred in the early months of the Trump administration as the White House faced mounting lawsuits challenging its policies on federal spending, workforce cuts, deportations, and reshaping of immigration policy. The U.S. Marshals Service investigated threats against 297 federal judges between Oct. 1 and mid June, according to data shared with The Washington Post by U.S. District Judge Esther Salas of New Jersey.
Nearly 200 of those investigations came between the beginning of March and late May — a period in which Trump and his allies repeatedly assailed the judiciary and vilified judges who ruled against the administration. That was more than double the 80 judges threatened in the previous five months, from Oct. 1 through March 1. The marshals investigated threats against an additional 20 judges between late May and June 16, according to the data, which the agency has not released publicly.
A White House spokesman, Harrison Fields, said in a statement Thursday: 'Attacks against public officials, including judges, have no place in our society and President Trump knows all too well the impact of callous attacks having faced two assassination attempts.'
McConnell was also one of dozens of judges to receive an anonymous, unsolicited pizza delivery in the name of Daniel Anderl, the murdered son of Salas. Anderl was fatally shot in the family's home in July 2020 by a disgruntled lawyer posing as a delivery person.
The marshals are reviewing more than 100 such deliveries in at least seven states and the District of Columbia. Salas and other judges view the deliveries as threats meant to intimidate the recipient by showing that the senders know where they live.
Salas, a founding member of the advocacy group who also spoke in the panel discussion, said Thursday that state judges in Florida and Colorado have also received pizzas, some in her son's name.
U.S. District Judge Robert S. Lasnik of Washington said in Thursday's panel discussion that he, too, had received a pizza delivery in Anderl's name.
Lasnik, an appointee of President Bill Clinton, said that he opted this year not to participate in lawsuits involving the Trump administration so that he would be free to comment broadly on threats and intimidation against the judiciary without raising conflicts of interest.
In April, he called on the administration and its supporters to cool their incendiary language toward federal judges in an interview with a local NPR station. Soon after, he said, a pizza showed up at his home in Seattle. Two of his adult children in other cities also received deliveries in Anderl's name.
'What's the message to Judge Lasnik? 'We know where you live. We know where your children live, and they could end up dead like Judge Salas's son did,'' Lasnik said.
Coughenour, an appointee of President Ronald Reagan, said he was targeted this year after he issued a sharply worded ruling calling Trump's executive order aimed at ending birthright citizenship unconstitutional.
Someone called a fake police report to his home saying he had murdered his wife, he recalled in the panel discussion. Police officers arrived at his house with weapons drawn, he said. Shortly after, he said, someone falsely reported a bomb threat at his house.
Coughenour said he can endure the threats and attempts to intimidate because he chose to become a judge.
'But my family didn't,' he said. 'It's unspeakable that people will do these things.'