What’s the going rate these days for attempts to assassinate a Supreme Court justice?
According to a Biden-appointed judge in Maryland, it lasts 97 months — just over eight years, less time than you would serve for many non-violent crimes.
Judge Deborah Boardman’s shockingly lenient sentence for Nicholas Roske’s attempt to assassinate Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh represents not only a failure of justice, but a danger to our system of self-government.
The motive behind the plot to assassinate Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh was to change the composition of the Supreme Court and thus the outcome of the Dobbs case. (Niall Carson/PA Images via Getty Images)
Think about what the assassination attempt was about and what preceded it. In March 2020, on the day of oral arguments in an abortion case (June Medical Services v. Russo), then-Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer stood in front of the Supreme Court building and threatened two justices:
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“I want to tell you, Gorsuch. I want to tell you, Kavanaugh. You have unleashed the whirlwind and you will pay the price. You won’t know what will happen to you if you continue with these terrible decisions.’
It was disgusting rhetoric and an attempt to intimidate the judges.
Two years later, the ultimate abortion case came to court: Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. The draft opinion was leaked in early May 2022, presumably in an attempt to thwart the impending overturning of Roe v. Wade. Roske’s assassination attempt on Kavanaugh and arrest occurred a month later, on June 8.
Roske’s immediate motive was, of course, to change the composition of the Supreme Court and thus the outcome of the Dobbs case. It is impossible to overstate the seriousness of this crime – not just an attempted murder, but an act of domestic terror and a serious attack on our system of government.
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And it turns out Kavanaugh wasn’t his only target. Roske said he hoped to kill three judges to derail the court.
Recent years have brought repeated acts of political violence against conservatives: the serious wounding of Representative Steve Scalise, the attempts on President Donald Trump’s life, and the murder of Charlie Kirk are the most prominent examples. The recent deadly shooting at an ICE facility in Dallas was due to a sniper targeting ICE agents.
And just this week, a man with 200 explosives was arrested outside St. Matthew’s Cathedral in Washington, shortly before the Red Mass, which is traditionally attended by several judges. The perpetrator was found with a manifesto showing that his targets were members of the Supreme Court and Catholics.
Against this backdrop, consider the betrayal of Judge Boardman, a Biden appointee. Not only did she fall well under the sentencing guidelines for Kavanaugh’s attempted murderer, she also injected her own political views to do so, based on Roske claiming transgender status.
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Nicholas Roske announced in court in September that he identified as a she and preferred the new first name “Sophie” – a preference to which the judge acquiesced. Boardman’s explanation made clear that the sentence she imposed was motivated by her opposition to President Trump’s executive order requiring biological males to be held in male-only federal prisons.
Boardman’s political views should not have influenced the conviction. And it’s really disturbing that Roske’s mental health concerns and gender dysphoria were dealt like a literal “Get Out of Jail” card. That is not how our legal system should work.
Boardman also downplayed Roske’s behavior, calling him “genuinely remorseful” and noting that he abandoned his plan and surrendered to authorities. Maybe.
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But it’s also possible that Roske saw Kavanaugh’s home being protected by police, and that he was about to be captured after being spotted by deputy U.S. marshals. If he called 911 to limit the damage, it worked.
Roske flew from California to assassinate three sitting Supreme Court justices, and a police search of his suitcase and backpack after his arrest “revealed a firearm; a black tactical chest harness and a tactical knife; two magazines, each with 10 rounds of ammunition; 17 extra ammo; pepper spray; zippers; a hammer; screwdrivers; a nail punch; a crowbar; a pistol light; duct tape; hiking boots with padding on the outside of the soles; and lock-picking tools, along with other items.”
These facts are uncomfortable for those who downplay this shocking crime.
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Roske has already spent three years in custody and could leave prison in another three years if he is eligible for parole. At that point, we can expect his targets to not only still be alive, but still on the field. It’s hard to overestimate how dangerous that is.
Fortunately, the Ministry of Justice is appealing the sentence. Failure to punish violence with the appropriate severity leads to more violence – in this case, violence that strikes at the very core of our governing institutions. That is why the Roske verdict is a national shame.
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