"Judge John Coughenour: My wife and I are at home. And the doorbell rings. And I go to the door. And there's, I think, five sheriff's deputies there with long rifles - Bill Whitaker: And they show up with guns drawn? Judge John Coughenour: Oh yeah. Yes, yes. Long guns, very intimidating guns. And they said to me, 'Sir, could we see your wife?' And I said, 'whatever for?' And they said, well, sir, we've had a report that you've murdered your wife.' It was a cruel hoax."
"It should be plainly obvious that the President is not empowered to willy nilly invalidate our Supreme document the moment it inconveniences their policy plans. That's kind of the point of checks and balances - if the Executive or the Legislative branches go too far, the judiciary is supposed to point at the Constitution and reel them back in."
Federal judges are experiencing unprecedented threats to their safety, including violent crimes and harassment campaigns, for performing their constitutional duties. Judge John Coughenour, a Reagan appointee, faced a swatting attack and bomb threat after blocking President Trump's birthright citizenship executive order. Judge Tanya Chutkan similarly experienced swatting following her oversight of Trump's federal election interference case. These incidents represent serious attacks on judicial independence and the constitutional system of checks and balances. The judiciary's role requires judges to uphold the Constitution even when their decisions inconvenience executive or legislative branch policies. Federal judges have collectively spoken out against this escalating violence, emphasizing that threatening judges for constitutional rulings undermines the fundamental separation of powers.
#judicial-independence #threats-against-judges #constitutional-law #checks-and-balances #swatting-attacks
Read at Above the Law
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