It's never been scarier to be a judge

[marmar]

In 2020, a man killed this judge’s son. He was coming for her
U.S. District Judge Esther Salas spoke to Salon about the rising threats to the judiciary — and democracy itself

By Tatyana Tandanpolie
Staff Reporter
Published July 27, 2025 6:30AM (EDT)


(Salon) The nation’s judges are facing an unprecedented threat — at least that’s what U.S. District Judge Esther Salas argues. She would know: Five years ago, she was targeted by an assassin. And still, she thinks the problem is getting worse.

The U.S. Marshals Service, which protects the federal judiciary, recorded some 408 threats against federal judges between the start of the fiscal year in October and June 16, the New Jersey jurist told Salon, citing data she received from a contact at the agency. That number is quickly approaching the 457 total serious threats against federal judges reported in fiscal year 2023 and nearly double the 224 threats recorded in fiscal year 2021, per Reuters. The stakes have only risen during President Donald Trump‘s time in office; as his administration defies lawful court orders, federal and elected officials have maligned and called for jurists’ impeachment after unfavorable rulings.

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Salas spoke to Salon ahead of the July 31 Speak Up for Justice forum, a grassroots monthly webinar advocating for the judiciary. At that event, she and other judges will discuss how some public officials’ rhetoric puts a target on their backs, demonstrated by a recent uptick in so-called “pizza doxing” — sending food to a judge’s home address — and the harm those acts pose to democracy. The threats facing judges appeared to weigh especially heavily on Salas, this conversation coming just days after she marked the fifth anniversary of her son’s tragic death.

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So far this year, we’ve seen an uptick in the threats against judges; FBI agents arresting a judge in Wisconsin; the Trump administration ignoring around a third of all major rulings against it across 165 cases, according to a Washington Post analysis that came out [Monday] morning. What are you making of this disregard for the judiciary, and how is the judiciary navigating this upheaval in this system of checks and balances, in our democracy?

I definitely think that we are in uncharted waters right now as a nation. I believe that judicial security and independence are being threatened on many, many fronts. I agree with [Chief Justice John Roberts] in his year-end report in 2024 when he talked about the illegitimate attacks against the judiciary, and we’re seeing those illegitimate attacks play out in real time. Violence — I’m living proof of that, violence. Judge [John] Roemer in Wisconsin, Judge [Andrew] Wilkinson in Maryland, the violence just keeps coming, and it doesn’t seem to be dissipating.

The chief justice talked about intimidation. Well, I don’t think we’ve seen the intimidation in the forms that we’ve seen as of late. It’s bad enough having members of Congress threatening to impeach judges because they disagree with our rulings; I’ve never seen, nor history has ever seen, anything like that. I think it’s bad enough threatening to take judicial actions against judges because you disagree with our rulings, instead of utilizing constitutional framework that we’ve all been operating under that if you don’t agree with a particular judge’s ruling, you appeal that judge to a higher court, and if you don’t agree with that higher court, you go to the United States Supreme Court. Clearly, there is a constitutional framework that we’ve all been operating under that now seems to be forgotten, or is not an acceptable form. ..................(more)

https://www.salon.com/2025/07/27/in-2020-a-man-killed-this-judges-son-he-was-coming-for-her/