WASHINGTON — A group of federal judges Thursday added to the chorus of concerns raised about the rise in violent threats against members of the judiciary at a time when President Donald Trump has ramped up his criticism of the courts.
Four sitting judges spoke during an online forum hosted by a legal group called "Speak Up for Justice" that was formed to defend the judiciary and the rule of law.
“I don’t think being a federal judge is a job for the fainthearted. What I probably did not expect to quite this degree is the level of vitriol and the types of violent threats that have come across my desk over the years,” said Chief Judge Dolly Gee, who oversees the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, and was appointed by then-President Barack Obama.
There has been an increasing number of threats against federal judges in recent years, according to data maintained by the U.S. Marshals Service, sparking alarm within the judiciary. There have been 314 investigations involving 202 judges since October, the agency says.
Among the speakers was Washington-based U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes, an appointee of then-President Joe Biden, who has been at the center of some high-profile Trump-related cases.
In February, Reyes read aloud in her courtroom threats she received after blocking the Trump administration from removing protected status from Haitian immigrants. The Trump administration's effort to block that ruling is pending at the Supreme Court.
She also ruled against the administration over its attempt to ban transgender people from the military, a policy the Supreme Court later allowed to go into effect.
"What’s most problematic is that the extraordinary has become ordinary. Every judge that issues a high-profile opinion … gets a deluge of emails and threats like this constantly. I hear it from judges all the time," Reyes said.
"I think a lot of the blowback on social media and a lot of the threats come from fear and misunderstanding, sort of fear of what’s going on in society," she added.
The other three judges also recounted their personal experiences of threats arising from all kinds of cases, not just those with a political tinge. They also bemoaned the role of social media and criticized journalists for including the name of the president who appointed a judge when reporting on their rulings. Such information can give the appearance that a judge is partisan, they said.
Judge Mark Norris, a Trump appointee based in Tennessee, spoke of the need for more respectful dialogue about the judiciary.
"We’ve got to translate that into words that people understand these days. It’s a heavy lift, but we have to do this work," he said.
Judge Michelle Williams Court, who is based in California and was a Biden appointee, echoed those sentiments, urging people to educate themselves about how the judiciary works.
"A big part of the driving force behind the energy that's behind the threats to the judiciary is the fact that there is an information vacuum in the internet and on social media," she said.
The judges repeatedly stressed that the threats would not deter them from doing their jobs.
Many of the judges who have been targeted recently had ruled against the Trump administration in high-profile cases, some faced sharp criticism either from Trump or his allies. Some Republicans have called for judges who have ruled against Trump to be impeached.
Among other things, judges have faced a wave of angry voicemails and threats. There was also an unusual series of anonymous pizza deliveries to judges' homes. NBC News reported last year the deliveries, which judges saw as a form of intimidation, may be linked to foreign actors.
NBC News exclusively reported in September that certain judges were frustrated that the Supreme Court's frequent rulings in favor of Trump last year, often without explanation, were contributing to the negative discourse about the judiciary. Some of those judges said Chief Justice John Roberts could do more to defend the lower courts.
The narrative has shifted in recent weeks, with Trump turning his ire on the Supreme Court itself after it ruled that his broad tariffs were unlawful.
Earlier this week, Roberts, in rare public remarks, said that personal attacks against judges were dangerous and have "got to stop."
