Right now is a tough time to be a federal judge. While the judiciary has long been (naively) thought of as the neutral branch, judges with steadfast commitment to upholding the Constitution have been facing serious consequences. By consequences I don’t mean being “forced” to flee Morton’s Steakhouse because protestors were pissed at you for overturning Roe v. Wade — the court basically blessed that with the way they handled Madsen v. Women’s Health Center. I mean actual threats to life and liberty like the would be assassin that tried to kill Kavanaugh. Federal judges banned together to speak out against the uptick in violent crime and threats befalling judges for simply doing their jobs. CBS News has coverage:
Judge John Coughenour – appointed by Ronald Reagan…blocked President Trump’s bid to end birthright citizenship. He wasn’t prepared for what happened next.
Judge John Coughenour: My wife and I are at home. And the doorbell rings. And I go to the door. And there’s, I think, five sheriff’s deputies there with long rifles –
Bill Whitaker: And they show up with guns drawn?
Judge John Coughenour: Oh yeah. Yes, yes. Long guns, very intimidating guns. And they said to me, “Sir, could we see your wife?” And I said, “whatever for?” And they said, well, sir, we’ve had a report that you’ve murdered your wife.”
It was a cruel hoax. The next day? A bomb threat.
It should be plainly obvious that the President is not empowered to willy nilly invalidate our Supreme document the moment it inconveniences their policy plans. That’s kind of the point of checks and balances — if the Executive or the Legislative branches go too far, the judiciary is supposed to point at the Constitution and reel them back in. You don’t reward that behavior by swatting judges.
Judge Coughenour wasn’t the only judge to get this treatment. U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan was similarly swatted after she oversaw Trump’s federal election interference case. And when dialing 911 doesn’t do the trick, these cowards have taken to calling pizzerias. When D.C. Circuit Judge J. Michelle Childs got a cheese pizza delivered to her home it wasn’t meant to make deciding dinner easier that night. It was a threat — the pizza was delivered with the name Daniel Anderl, the son of U.S. District Judge Esther Salas. Anderl was shot dead by someone who knew the judge’s address. These cheesy threats are way more credible than Comey’s sea shell art, yet the White House has done little to address the uptick in outrage directed at judges. The “Hey, don’t attack these crazy bastards” response felt a lot more like stand back and stand by.
Judges usually keep their thoughts to themselves rather than risk muddying themselves with politics and appearing impartial. The fact that this many judges were willing to speak out against how unsafe their workplace has become is a sign on how bad things are going.
Chris Williams became a social media manager and assistant editor for Above the Law in June 2021. Prior to joining the staff, he moonlighted as a minor Memelord™ in the Facebook group Law School Memes for Edgy T14s . He endured Missouri long enough to graduate from Washington University in St. Louis School of Law. He is a former boat builder who is learning to swim and is interested in rhetoric, Spinozists and humor. Getting back in to cycling wouldn’t hurt either. You can reach him by email at cwilliams@abovethelaw.com and by tweet at @WritesForRent.
The post Federal Judges Threatened For Doing Their Jobs Speak Up appeared first on Above the Law.
Right now is a tough time to be a federal judge. While the judiciary has long been (naively) thought of as the neutral branch, judges with steadfast commitment to upholding the Constitution have been facing serious consequences. By consequences I don’t mean being “forced” to flee Morton’s Steakhouse because protestors were pissed at you for overturning Roe v. Wade — the court basically blessed that with the way they handled Madsen v. Women’s Health Center. I mean actual threats to life and liberty like the would be assassin that tried to kill Kavanaugh. Federal judges banned together to speak out against the uptick in violent crime and threats befalling judges for simply doing their jobs. CBS News has coverage:
Judge John Coughenour – appointed by Ronald Reagan…blocked President Trump’s bid to end birthright citizenship. He wasn’t prepared for what happened next.
Judge John Coughenour: My wife and I are at home. And the doorbell rings. And I go to the door. And there’s, I think, five sheriff’s deputies there with long rifles –
Bill Whitaker: And they show up with guns drawn?
Judge John Coughenour: Oh yeah. Yes, yes. Long guns, very intimidating guns. And they said to me, “Sir, could we see your wife?” And I said, “whatever for?” And they said, well, sir, we’ve had a report that you’ve murdered your wife.”
It was a cruel hoax. The next day? A bomb threat.
It should be plainly obvious that the President is not empowered to willy nilly invalidate our Supreme document the moment it inconveniences their policy plans. That’s kind of the point of checks and balances — if the Executive or the Legislative branches go too far, the judiciary is supposed to point at the Constitution and reel them back in. You don’t reward that behavior by swatting judges.
Judge Coughenour wasn’t the only judge to get this treatment. U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan was similarly swatted after she oversaw Trump’s federal election interference case. And when dialing 911 doesn’t do the trick, these cowards have taken to calling pizzerias. When D.C. Circuit Judge J. Michelle Childs got a cheese pizza delivered to her home it wasn’t meant to make deciding dinner easier that night. It was a threat — the pizza was delivered with the name Daniel Anderl, the son of U.S. District Judge Esther Salas. Anderl was shot dead by someone who knew the judge’s address. These cheesy threats are way more credible than Comey’s sea shell art, yet the White House has done little to address the uptick in outrage directed at judges. The “Hey, don’t attack these crazy bastards” response felt a lot more like stand back and stand by.
Judges usually keep their thoughts to themselves rather than risk muddying themselves with politics and appearing impartial. The fact that this many judges were willing to speak out against how unsafe their workplace has become is a sign on how bad things are going.
Chris Williams became a social media manager and assistant editor for Above the Law in June 2021. Prior to joining the staff, he moonlighted as a minor Memelord™ in the Facebook group Law School Memes for Edgy T14s . He endured Missouri long enough to graduate from Washington University in St. Louis School of Law. He is a former boat builder who is learning to swim and is interested in rhetoric, Spinozists and humor. Getting back in to cycling wouldn’t hurt either. You can reach him by email at cwilliams@abovethelaw.com and by tweet at @WritesForRent.
The post Federal Judges Threatened For Doing Their Jobs Speak Up appeared first on Above the Law.
