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"When you can't win in court, set loose your flying monkeys to intimidate judges and their families?" asked one Democratic senator. "That's the America we want?"
Since U.S. President Donald Trump took office in January, the judicial branch has served as something of a firewall against some of his attempts to subvert congressional authority and undermine long-established constitutional law, with federal judges blocking his orders to end birthright citizenship, cut foreign aid funding, and other parts of his agenda.
But as the rulings have been met with relief from rights advocates, the judges who have handed down the decisions have faced mounting threats from anonymous people or groups who appear to support Trump—with remarks from Republican lawmakers and the president himself only emboldening the threats of violence.
As The New York Times reported Wednesday, judges who have ruled against the administration's policies in recent weeks have received "bomb threats, anonymous calls to dispatch police SWAT teams to home addresses, even the delivery of pizzas, a seemingly innocuous prank" which is meant to convey an ominous message, suggested one judge who was targeted.
"They know where you and your family members live," said the judge, who is overseeing a case pertaining to the Trump administration.
On Tuesday, Trump called for the impeachment of Chief Judge James Boasberg of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia and derided him as a "radical left lunatic" after Boasberg barred the administration from deporting Venezuelan immigrants to El Salvador under the 1798 Alien Enemies Act. His comments followed those of Rep. Brandon Gill (R-Texas), who pledged to file articles of impeachment against the "activist" judge.
Trump's remarks prompted U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts to warn that "impeachment is not an appropriate response to disagreement concerning a judicial decision," advising those who oppose federal rulings to do so via "the normal appellate review process."
Roberts' warning didn't stop anonymous critics on social media from demanding that Boasberg be sent to Guantánamo Bay "for 20 years" and calling him a "terrorist-loving judge."
Far-right conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer, who traveled with Trump during his campaign last year, told her 1.5 million social media followers that the judge's family "is a national security threat."
U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) on Thursday likened the response of Trump and the MAGA movement to the judiciary to setting loose "flying monkeys to intimidate judges and their families."
Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett, one of the court's right-wing judges who was appointed by Trump, broke with the other conservative justices earlier this month when she ruled against the president's freeze on foreign aid—prompting allies of the president to deride Coney Barrett as a "closet Democrat" and a "DEI hire," referring to diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives that Trump has pushed to end.
Days after the ruling, Coney Barrett's sister received a threat—which turned out to be false—that there was a pipe bomb in her mailbox.
Judge John C. Coughenour of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington also reported that he had been targeted by a "swatting" attack, in which a false tip was sent to local law enforcement, prompting officers to show up at the judge's home expecting to find an armed intruder. The attack followed Coughenour's ruling that blocked Trump's order attempting to abolish birthright citizenship.
Reutersreported earlier this this month that "U.S. marshals have warned judges of unusually high threat levels."
"Security has been bolstered for some judges assigned cases over Trump administration initiatives," the outlet reported.
The government watchdog Public Citizen said the threats against judges who rule against Trump is a "red flag."
"This presidency is starting to look a lot like a dictatorship," said the group.
Maggie Jo Buchanan, interim executive director of the court reform advocacy group Demand Justice, said that "judges should not face threats of impeachment, violence, or worse, simply for doing their jobs and upholding their oaths to the rule of law and Constitution."
"Criticism and public discourse around rulings is a part of our democracy," said Buchanan. "Threats and intimidation are not."
"While still in charge of the Senate and the White House, we must do all we can to safeguard our democracy," said the senator.
In an op-ed on "the plan to fight back" against the incoming Trump administration, U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren on Thursday provided a pep talk to anguished supporters of Vice President Kamala Harris as the nation faces another four years with the far-right MAGA movement at the helm of the government—but she also issued a demand of the Senate before President-elect Donald Trump takes office.
"While still in charge of the Senate and the White House, we must do all we can to safeguard our democracy," wrote the Massachusetts Democrat at Time magazine. "Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer must use every minute of the end-of-year legislative session to confirm federal judges and key regulators—none of whom can be removed by the next president."
As Law.comreported on Thursday, there are currently four federal appeals court nominees awaiting Senate floor votes, a nominee for the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit awaiting a Senate Judiciary Committee vote following a confirmation hearing in July, and 23 district court nominees awaiting floor or committee votes.
The lame-duck session of Congress will begin November 12 and lawmakers will leave for holiday recess December 20. On January 3, the 119th U.S. Congress will convene, with the Republican Party taking control of the upper chamber.
"Given the outcome of the election, the reality is that we now have a rapidly closing window to confirm well-qualified, fair-minded judges who will protect our rights and serve as one of the last guardrails in upholding our nation's laws and the Constitution," said Maggie Buchanan, managing director of Demand Justice. "Even one judge can make a difference. We don't have a minute to lose."
"With the prospect of more Trump judges on the horizon, this will hopefully create the urgency we've needed all along."
Law.com reported that Schumer (D-N.Y.) has filed for cloture on President Joe Biden's nominations of Judge Jonathan Hawley and former assistant U.S. Attorney April Perry, both of whom were nominated for federal trial courts in Illinois. The Senate will likely vote on the two nominees next week.
"We have always been adamant that the Senate must confirm all of President Biden's nominees and fill every possible vacancy, regardless of who wins the election," said Jake Faleschini, program director for Alliance for Justice, in a statement. "With the prospect of more Trump judges on the horizon, this will hopefully create the urgency we've needed all along."
A spokesperson for Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, told Law.com that Durbin "aims to confirm every possible nominee before the end of this Congress."
At Time, Warren wrote that the Harris campaign and the Biden White House have reached out to working people with pro-labor policies and proposals aimed at reducing prices and holding corporations accountable. But the senator acknowledged that "good economic policies do not erase painful underlying truths about our country."
"Americans do not want a country where political parties each field their own team of billionaires who then squabble over how to divvy up the spoils of government," wrote Warren. "Vice President Harris deserves credit for running an inspiring campaign under unprecedented circumstances. But if Democrats want to earn back the trust of working people and govern again, we need to convince voters we can—and will—unrig the economy."
Before Trump takes office, she added, "to resist Trump's threats to abuse state power against what he calls 'the enemy within,' Pentagon leaders should issue a directive now reiterating that the military's oath is to the Constitution."
Looking ahead to the second Trump administration, Warren advised her party to unite "against Trump's legislative agenda" as it did when the Republicans tried to repeal the Affordable Care Act in 2017.
"Democrats did not have the votes to stop the repeal," wrote the senator. "Nevertheless, we fought on. Patients kept up a relentless rotation of meetings in Congress, activists in wheelchairs performed civil disobedience, and lawmakers used every tactic possible—late night speeches, forums highlighting patient stories, committee reports, and procedural tactics—to draw attention to the Republican repeal effort. This sustained resistance ultimately shifted the politics of health care repeal. The final vote was a squeaker, but Republicans lost and the ACA survived."
"Trump won the election, but more than 67 million people voted for Democrats and they don't expect us to roll over and play dead," wrote Warren. "We will have a peaceful transition of power, followed by a vigorous challenge from the party out of power, because that's how democracy works."
"This Trump fellow is an obvious, unrepentant fascist without the slightest understanding of what the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution demands and requires."
U.S. Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump is under fire this week for suggesting that critics of federal judges, including justices on the nation's top court, should be thrown in jail.
During a Monday night campaign rally in Pennsylvania, the former president continued his trend of bragging about appointing three of the U.S. Supreme Court justices who ended nationwide abortion rights by overturning Roe v. Wade. He also praised the "brilliant" right-wingers for having the "courage" to issue the June 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization decision.
"They were very brave, the Supreme Court. Very brave. And they take a lot of hits because of it," Trump told the crowd.
"It should be illegal, what happens. You know, you have these guys like playing the ref, like the great Bobby Knight," he continued, referencing a late college basketball coach. "These people should be put in jail, the way they talk about our judges and our justices, trying to get them to sway their vote, sway their decision."
Demand Justice managing director Maggie Jo Buchanan on Tuesday tied Trump's new comments to his past remarks.
"In 2016, Donald Trump said women should be punished if they have an abortion. Now, he says women should be jailed for speaking out when their rights have been taken away," Buchanan said in a statement. "Attempting to stoke fear among those who are simply exercising their First Amendment rights is deeply anti-American."
The campaign of the Democratic nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris, shared a clip of Trump's comments on social media.
"You know, I'm going to lean forward a bit on my skis and just suggest, hear me out on this, that this Trump fellow is an obvious, unrepentant fascist without the slightest understanding of what the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution demands and requires of every citizen, let alone the president," said journalist David Simon.
Congressman Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) responded with a message for Trump, saying: "The extreme Supreme Court Justices you nominated are corrupt, radical, and ethically compromised. They lied to the Senate and the American people about their actual views on Roe v. Wade. Take your attacks on free speech and shove it."
Pointing to a more recent ruling from the country's deeply unpopular top court, writer and photographer Jason Karsh said, "I know we're sort of numb to Trump openly musing about putting anybody who disagrees with him or speaks out about him in jail, but he is running for president and this conservative SCOTUS did give him complete immunity for any crimes he commits while in office."
Meanwhile, Harvard University professor Maya Sen noted that "Trump himself has made so many attacks on judges and justices that the Brennan Center even released a report on it."
Some of the ex-president's attacks on the judicial system have pertained to his various ongoing legal issues, some of which relate to his attempts to reverse his 2020 loss, which included inciting a violent mob to attack the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.
Although Trump has campaigned on his role in reversing Roe, he has also tried to distance himself from the GOP's most extreme attacks on reproductive freedom and downplay how important abortion rights are to many voters—which he did again on Monday.
Responding to Trump's rally remarks, Harris campaign spokesperson Sarafina Chitika said late Monday that "the issue of reproductive freedom certainly 'pertains' to women all across this country, especially as we learn women are losing their lives under Donald Trump's extreme abortion bans."
"Trump keeps trying to tell women that our health, our freedoms, and our lives don't matter," she continued. "He tries to tell us what to think and what we care about. Women know better—and we will not be silenced, dismissed, ignored or treated like we're stupid. We will vote like our lives depend on it this November, and we'll elect a leader who fights for us: Vice President Kamala Harris."
Trump's Monday comments followed his Friday night post on social media that if he is elected in November, "WOMEN WILL BE HAPPY, HEALTHY, CONFIDENT AND FREE! YOU WILL NO LONGER BE THINKING ABOUT ABORTION."
That claim came in the wake of reporting that tied Georgia's post-Dobbs abortion ban to the deaths of at least two women. Speaking in Atlanta on Friday, Harris declared that "this is a healthcare crisis and Donald Trump is the architect of this crisis."