Federal District Judge John Coughenour was unprepared for what happened after he temporarily blocked President Trump’s birthright citizenship executive order last year and called it “blatantly unconstitutional.” He said he faced “dozens if not hundreds” of death threats.
“I’ve been at this for 44 years. I have never encountered the hostility toward the judiciary that has existed in this country in the last year,” Coughenour said. “And I don’t think it’s because we’re making bad decisions. I think it’s because there are people who think they can make a lot of political hay out of criticizing the federal judiciary.”
President Trump has frequently called judges lunatics, crooked, or Trump-hating. Often, a wave of threats against those judges follows. Last year, 400 federal judges were the targets of serious threats—a 78% jump compared to four years ago, according to the U.S. Marshals.
The White House said in a statement to CBS News it was “deeply unserious” to suggest the administration’s comments about judges could lead to threats, noting that as a “survivor of two assassination attempts, no one understands the dangers of political violence more than President Trump.”
The White House also accused the judiciary of “brazen defiance” with its “unlawful rulings” that had “repeatedly obstructed the election choices of the American people.” But judges are concerned about the harsh political rhetoric and what it could mean for their safety and the independence of the judiciary.
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**Judges Speak Out**
60 Minutes spoke with 26 federal judges—nine of them Democratic appointees and 17 appointed by Republicans. Many expressed worry about the state of democracy.
“The independence of the judiciary is extraordinarily important,” Coughenour said. “And it’s too important to allow it to be sacrificed and not speak up and say something.”
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**Why Trump Is Attacking Judges**
Mr. Trump lashed out at Supreme Court justices, including two conservative justices he nominated, after the court struck down his sweeping global tariffs. He called the justices “fools and lapdogs” and accused them of being disloyal to the Constitution.
They were the latest in a long line of judges the president has denounced when they’ve ruled against him. Mr. Trump said at a Michigan rally last year he would not allow “a handful of communist radical left judges” to obstruct the enforcement of laws.
Retired Federal Judge John Jones, an appointee of former President George W. Bush, said he believes Mr. Trump is trying to delegitimize the federal courts when he insults judges.
“This is a presidency sort of on steroids, with a very dormant U.S. Congress and a president who means to really say what the law is. Civics taught me that Congress makes the law, and the president faithfully executes the laws of the country. We’ve turned that on its head right now,” Jones said.
Jones added that the Trump administration is testing the bounds of presidential power. The administration is facing more than 600 lawsuits contesting its agenda, leaving judges caught in the crossfire.
Attorney General Pam Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche both declined a 60 Minutes request for an interview. In a recent speech, Blanche blamed judges for blocking the president’s agenda.
“We are routinely getting stays and getting reversals because of local judges just not following the law, full stop,” Blanche said during a Federalist Society event last year. “There’s a group of judges that are repeat players. And that’s obviously not by happenstance. That’s intentional. And it’s a war, man.”
In an email to 60 Minutes, Blanche said that some judges continue to issue “overbroad and even unreasoned injunctions.” He added that “threats and intimidation of federal officials is unlawful.”
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**What Judges Say They’re Facing**
Coughenour, who was appointed by former President Ronald Reagan in 1981, was at home with his wife after his ruling last January on birthright citizenship when the doorbell rang.
Armed sheriff’s deputies were on the other side, responding to a report that Coughenour had killed his wife. It was a cruel hoax, followed by a bomb threat the next day. And it didn’t end there.
A congressman posted a wanted poster featuring federal judges who ruled against the Trump administration, including Coughenour. The judge received hundreds of death threats.
Ron Zayas, CEO of Ironwall, a company that scrubs judges’ personal data off the web, said he’s now seeing a new type of threat.
“The threats used to be, ‘you ruled against me. And I want to kill you,'” Zayas said. “Now the kind of threats we’re seeing, there’s a whole other sphere of saying ‘I want to influence what you do.’ It’s mob mentality.”
U.S. Marshals are also investigating “pizza doxxing,” when unsolicited pizzas are sent to judges and their families across the U.S.
At least 20 pizzas were sent to homes in the name of the late son of Judge Esther Salas, a federal district court judge in New Jersey appointed by former President Barack Obama. In 2020, a failed litigant came gunning for Salas at her New Jersey home. He killed her son, Daniel, and wounded her husband.
The pizza deliveries in Daniel’s name sent an ominous message, according to Salas.
“We know where you live. We know where your children live,” Salas said, describing the message. “And do you want to end up like Judge Salas’s son?”
U.S. Marshals are charged with determining which threats against judges may lead to physical violence. Judges say the Marshals are overwhelmed.
Jones and 55 other retired judges, concerned over the threats, formed a bipartisan group to lobby the White House on the issue.
“In very plain English: if we’re not careful we’re gonna get a judge killed,” Jones said. “It’s just that stark.”
While harsh political rhetoric didn’t ignite the attack that left Salas’ son dead, she fears today’s environment makes such horrors more likely.
“I sit here as Daniel’s mom. I sit here as a woman who lost her only child. Mark and I have been to hell and back,” she said. “When I see that kind of irresponsible behavior coming from our political leaders and people in power it makes me sad. And it makes me very worried, because I worry for our democracy, I really do.”
Salas said vilifying judges is eroding trust in the courts.
“If you disagree with a ruling that we make, appeal us. If you disagree with a sentence we render, appeal us. The answer is not to dehumanize us. And that has been, I think, the active agenda as of late,” she said. “I feel like sometimes our political leaders are playing Russian roulette with our lives.”
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**Who’s Making Threats Against Judges**
Threats aren’t just from the right. There’s been a surge in left-wing threats, including ones targeting judges who’ve ruled for the president.
High-ranking Democrats have also verbally attacked judges. In 2020, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who later apologized, told two Supreme Court justices they would “pay the price” if they banned abortion.
And in 2022, a would-be assassin was arrested for trying to kill Justice Brett Kavanaugh at his home.
Judge Jones, a Republican appointee, said the rhetoric from both the left and right has gotten worse over time. But he noted he has not seen anything from Democrats similar in nature to the behavior from the Trump administration in relation to the federal judiciary, saying “there’s simply no evidence of that.”
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The growing hostility toward federal judges is raising urgent questions about the safety of the judiciary and the health of American democracy. Many judges urge the public and political leaders alike to respect the rule of law and support judicial independence before threats turn into tragedies.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/threats-federal-judges-trump-60-minutes/