“Four areas of illegitimate activity … threaten the independence of judges on which the rule of law depends,” U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts warned in his 2024 year-end report. He identified “(1) violence, (2) intimidation, (3) disinformation, and (4) threats to defy lawfully entered judgments” as the top behaviors that threaten to undermine the “critical function” courts perform in a democracy.
Roberts cited a “significant uptick in identified threats” against the judiciary. According to U.S. Marshals Service statistics, he said, hostile threats have more than tripled over the past decade, and the marshals have investigated more than 1,000 serious threats against federal judges in just the past five years, resulting in approximately 50 criminal indictments. Fortunately, the marshals have successfully countered these threats—so far—but…
