#federal-judges

#federal-judges

"What's most problematic is that the extraordinary has become ordinary. It's just a matter of course now that when you issue an opinion that some people don't like, you're going to get threats, you're going to get death threats, and that is obviously problematic on many levels."

Cullen normally serves in the federal court system for the western district of Virginia, but since all 15 judges in Maryland's district court system were named as defendants in the case, someone from outside the state had to be brought in to resolve the case. The lawsuit was a highly unusual, broad-strokes attack on the federal judicial system in Maryland, where Trump's immigration agenda has faced several high-profile setbacks.

"If I had declined to participate, it would have marked me as disloyal or difficult," said a former clerk. "It was a constant reminder of how completely the judge controlled my time."