Federal judges speak out about threats, harassment

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By Dan Heilman
BridgeTower Media Newswires

Inflammatory rhetoric from the Trump administration and elsewhere has led to a crisis in the judiciary that is threatening judicial independence itself, according to federal judges who have been the targets of harassment and intimidation.

Judges who make rulings that go against the wishes of Trump and his supporters are regularly faced with bomb scares, phone threats, swatting — even pizzas delivered in the name of a federal judge’s son who was murdered by a gunman targeting her. Already this year, more than 400 cases of threats to judges have been reported. The U.S. Marshal’s Service has said that roughly a third of the federal judiciary has been the target of threats during 2025.

Now, judges are speaking out about the harassment they’ve faced, and what it could mean for the future of the United States’ judicial system.

During a virtual panel presented in late July by the advocacy group Speak Up For Justice, four judges who have been affected by the harassment spoke about their experiences.

“I signed up for this. My family didn’t,” said Chief Judge John J. McConnell Jr. of the District of Rhode Island. “My wife and I were swatted. The police received a call from someone who said that I had murdered my wife. What kind of people do these things? It’s unspeakable.”

After a controversial ruling, McConnell received dozens of harassing voicemails and even a handful of death threats. Conservative media figures attacked and doxed his daughter, and the conservative public interest organization America First Legal filed a judicial misconduct complaint against him and is pushing for impeachment.

During the panel, he played a voicemail he received after he had blocked the Trump administration’s attempt to freeze roughly $3 trillion in federal funding to the states. During an obscenity-laced message, the anonymous caller said, “We’re coming for you…I wish someone would assassinate (you).”

“I’ve never had to have protection from law enforcement [until now],” McConnell said. “These threats degrade the nonpartisan judiciary. I hope this serves as a call to action to support and protect the judiciary.”

All the judges participating in the panel acknowledged that how they’ve been targeted doesn’t compare to the experience of Esther Salas, judge in the District of New Jersey. In 2020, a man who had previously appeared in court before Salas opened fire at her home, killing her 20-year-old son, Daniel.

“I don’t judge anyone for not coming forward,” said Salas. “This is uncomfortable for all of us. There’s been inflammatory rhetoric from both sides, but I have to honestly say things are different now. The White House is calling us radical leftists, deranged idiots.”

“My children also received pizzas in the name of Daniel,” said Judge Robert Lasnik of the district of Washington. “That’s a pretty cruel thing to do. I have colleagues who get bombarded with threats and hateful messages. That’s discouraging for a young judge.”

John C. Coughenour, also a judge for the District of Washington, said that outreach work he’s done in Russia showed him that “there was almost a sense of reverence for the judicial independence in America,” and now the world gets to watch as people try to degrade that principle here.

“It’s stunning to me that some political actors think they can gain an advantage by threatening the rule of law,” he said. “The rise to power in 1930s Germany, 1970s Cambodia, 1990s Rwanda, were preceded by attacks on an independent judiciary. Our judges and lawyers need to say, ‘Not in this country. Not on our watch.’”

Lasnik noted that while the current trend is alarming, it’s not completely unprecedented in the United States. Federal judges were harassed after the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education case, in which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that state laws that allowed racial segregation in schools were unconstitutional.

“There were billboards saying ‘Impeach Earl Warren,’” said Lasnik. “Judges who insisted that the ruling be enforced were the targets of threats. The difference is that at that time, the president [Dwight D. Eisenhower] enforced the court’s rulings and didn’t encourage defying them.”

Indeed, without mentioning him by name, the judges made it apparent that at the root of the inflammatory rhetoric is Donald Trump. According to the New York Times, threats against judges almost always jump when Trump lashes out at the judiciary.

“We need our politicians, from the top down, to lead responsibly,” said Salas. “Our leaders are calling us monsters. Appeal us to a higher court, but stop demonizing us. Lead responsibly. Stop fanning the flames. They’re inviting people to do us harm.”