The Director of the US Marshals Service has expressed serious concern over a significant rise in threats against federal judges and prosecutors, describing it as a substantial risk to democracy.
He highlighted a troubling trend, noting that threats against judges have more than doubled in the past three years, as have threats against prosecutors and other court officials.
In the fiscal year 2023, 457 federal judges received serious threats, up from 300 the previous year and 224 in fiscal 2021. Similarly, the number of threats against federal prosecutors more than doubled from 68 in fiscal 2021 to 155 in the last fiscal year.
US Marshals Personnel (Credits: U.S. Marshals Service)
These threats were deemed serious enough to warrant investigation by the Marshals Service, which is responsible for protecting federal judges and court staff.
The heightened threat environment coincides with a politically divisive period in the US. Several threats have been directed at court officials involved in cases related to Donald Trump.
For example, a Texas woman was recently sentenced to three years in prison for leaving threatening voicemails for a Florida judge overseeing a case against Trump regarding his handling of classified documents.
Judges overseeing cases against Trump in New York, Colorado, and Washington, DC, have also faced threats. Judge Tanya Chutkan, presiding over Trump’s federal election subversion case in DC, has been subjected to at least one racist threat and a swatting incident, where authorities are falsely alerted to a crime in progress.
The increase in threats against federal judges and prosecutors underscores the need for heightened security measures to protect those involved in the administration of justice.
