Families of Judges Come Under Attack

In a Reuters Special Report, five journalists wrote These judges ruled against Trump. Then their families came under attack. | Reuters (May 2, 2025).

Former Judges are speaking out.  Jacquelin Thomsen, published Ex-Judges See Intimidation in Trump DOJ Arrest of Judge (Bloomberg Law May 5, 2025).  She reports that a group of over 150 former federal and state judges have said that the arrest of a Wisconsin Judge is “attempt to intimidate the judiciary.”  The letter said that the effort to undermine the courts “will fail.”

For a similar statement from other former Judges, please see “Article III Coalition” Formed to Protect the Judiciary – “Keep Our Republic”; accord The Judiciary Is Under Attack. Lawyers Have a Duty to Defend It (Grimm, J. (ret.))(Bloomberg Law Oct. 24, 2023); Letter from Paul W. Grimm Regarding Threats and Attacks on Judges (Bolch Jud. Inst. Feb. 10, 2025); Why Impeachment Threats Against Judges Will Fail: Legal Insight (Bloomberg Law Mar. 6, 2025).

This blog post is not political.  I have long and often written about the need to protect the judiciary. E.g., Protecting the Judiciary – Bolch Judicial Institute; Threats Against the Colorado Supreme Court Must Be Called Out.

The need to protect Judges could not be greater.  “Pizzas Sent to Judges’ Homes in Name of Judge’s Murdered Son” .  The pizzas are a threat. In 2020, Judge Salas’s son was killed and her husband wounded by an assailant posing as a delivery driver.

Judges at every level have been threatened: “A pizza was sent to the home of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett the weekend after the judge, a Trump appointee, joined a 5-4 decision in March against the administration’s bid to freeze foreign aid, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters.” See Press Release, Office of Public Affairs | California Man Pleads Guilty to Attempted Murder of Supreme Court Justice in Maryland | United States Department of Justice (Apr. 8, 2025).

Now, however, the threats have expanded to the families of Judges. Reuters reported that, the same weekend as the pizza delivery to Justice Coney Barrett, “a bomb threat targeted her sister in South Carolina….” [Emphasis added].

Reuters reports that after one Judge ruled, attackers “unleashed a wave of threats and menacing posts. And they didn’t just target the judge. Some attacked Boasberg’s brother. Others blasted his daughter. Some demanded the family’s arrest – or execution. [Emphasis added].

In a different instance, according to the article: “Far-right provocateur Laura Loomer tweeted a photo of the judge’s daughter….”  Nine more posts – and death threats – followed.

Both sides of the aisle have overstepped. Reuters reported that:

Democratic politicians have been more restrained, but U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer drew widespread criticism – including a rebuke from Chief Justice Roberts – when he warned at a 2020 rally that Supreme Court Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch would “pay the price” if they ruled in favor of abortion restrictions. Schumer expressed regret for the remark the next day.

The Reuters article states that families of at least 11 federal judges have been threatened.  “Reuters spoke with a dozen federal judges who raised concerns about the security of their own families or of the relatives of colleagues….

It adds:

Reuters identified more than 600 posts on social media and right-leaning message boards since February targeting family members of judges who ruled against the Trump administration….  At least 70 posts explicitly called for judges’ family members to face violence, retaliation or arrest….  Other threats or menacing messages were made directly in calls and emails to the courts or the homes of judges and their relatives…. [Emphasis added].

“Reuters examined hundreds of posts and comments reaching millions of people across nearly a dozen online platforms….”  Reuters found 370 online posts “vilifying” one Judge and his daughter.

The article states that one Judge’s relative received a private social media post stating “’you are in line to meet your maker’ – next to a picture of a man gripping an assault rifle.”

Threats must be taken seriously:

• “A disgruntled litigant killed the mother and husband of U.S. District Judge Joan Lefkow in her Chicago home two decades ago.
• U. S. District Judge Esther Salas’ son was killed when a would-be assassin showed up at her New Jersey home in 2020.”
• Here in Maryland, the Hon. Andew F. Wilkinson was murdered in his driveway in 2023. See Maryland’s Protection of the Judiciary.

Therefore, it is amazing to read that the Judicial Conference of the U.S. Wrote of Inadequate Funding for Security and Maryland Passes “Watered-Down Judicial Security Bill”.

Reuters quoted the Hon. John Coughenour: “We signed up for this when we took the job, but they didn’t. That’s the unfairness of this.”

I understand the point, but respectfully disagree.

No public servant signs up to be threatened and “unfairness” is far too mild when it comes to threats against family members.

According to the Reuters article, the Hon. Paul W. Grimm (ret.) said that no judge should worry “that their families would be called into danger….  It is never justified.”

Condemnation is the minimal response.  Prosecution is the appropriate one.[1]

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[1] When caught, the consequences of threats are severe.  Press Release, Eastern District of New York | Queens Man Pleads Guilty to Threatening to Kill Federal Judge | United States Department of Justice (Feb. 10, 2025);  Press Release, Southern District of Florida | Illinois Man Charged with Threatening Federal Judge Detained in South Florida | United States Department of Justice (Nov. 1, 2024); D. Harris, Woman pleads guilty to threatening judge, U.S. Congresswoman (Nov. 14, 2024).