Federal judges are raising alarms about escalating threats against the judiciary, with 324 threats against 253 federal judges recorded so far this year by the U.S. Marshals Service, following 564 tracked threats last year.

What the Right Is Saying

U.S. District Judge John Jones III, who spent nearly two decades in the Middle District of Pennsylvania and now serves as president of Dickinson College, said judges have been criticized since the nation's founding but threats have taken a dark turn in recent years. "But it's another thing again to issue what I think is a dog whistle to that very small portion, but perhaps powerful portion, of the electorate that are unbalanced, that will take up arms and hurt or kill somebody," Jones said during the same NBC interview.

What the Left Is Saying

U.S. District Judge Esther Salas, whose son Daniel was fatally shot in July 2020 when a lawyer attacked her family at their home, said national leaders are engaging in irresponsible rhetoric around judges that carries dangerous weight. "When someone sacrifices their life for you, you don't squander yours," Salas said during an interview with NBC News. She has continued serving on the bench and advocates for increased attention to threats facing judges, saying she is "banging this drum that something awful is happening." Salas emphasized that Americans must understand a judge must look at facts and law, not at who has more money or power.

What the Numbers Show

According to the U.S. Marshals Service, which protects federal judges: 324 threats have been recorded against 253 federal judges so far this year; 564 total threats were tracked last year. Sophie Roske was sentenced to roughly eight years in prison after pleading guilty to attempting to kill Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. She arrived at Kavanaugh's home with a firearm, several magazines of ammunition, pepper spray, zip ties, a hammer, screwdrivers, a nail punch and a crowbar.

The Bottom Line

Both judges called for a national dialogue about the issue. "We need a national dialogue," Jones said, noting that judges are uniquely limited in what they can say publicly. Salas said she believes that conversation starts at home: "I think it starts with how we treat each other at home. How we treat each other, and how we treat neighbors and strangers." The threats come as President Trump has criticized federal judges who have ruled against him, calling them "stupid people" in a video from an Easter lunch the White House briefly posted online.