US judges speak out against threats, mysterious pizza deliveries
By Nate Raymond
March 19 (Reuters) - A group of federal judges on Thursday publicly denounced a rise in threats against them and their colleagues, including hateful messages aimed at a judge who ruled against part of President Donald Trump's hardline immigration agenda.
Five judges appointed by both Democratic and Republican presidents during a virtual event recounted receiving disturbing emails wishing them dead and mysterious pizza deliveries to their private homes as reasons why they could not remain silent.
"Staying quiet is no longer an option," Miami-based U.S. District Judge Beth Bloom said.
They spoke just days after U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts on Tuesday spoke out against hostility directed at judges in personal terms, saying it "is dangerous and it's got to stop."
The judges echoed Roberts' remarks during an event hosted by Speak Up for Justice, which advocates for an independent judiciary. Some said they felt freer to speak now after a judicial ethics opinion last month advised they could defend colleagues against "illegitimate" attacks and criticism.
They argued more needed to be done to promote civilized behavior and encouraged bar associations to step up to condemn personal attacks on judges, which they said threaten to undermine judicial independence.
U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes recounted how she became the subject of countless "threatening and problematic" voicemails and emails after she blocked the Trump administration in February from ending legal protections for more than 350,000 Haitian migrants.
"I hope you lose your life by lunchtime, you worthless whore," one email said, according to Reyes, who previously recounted the message at a court hearing.
Reyes, who was appointed by Democratic President Joe Biden, said some also targeted her for being gay. The Uruguayan-born judge said the "most painful" threats came from individuals who said "you're being un-American, you're being undemocratic, or you're an immigrant and should go back to your country."
Such threats have been on the rise, according to the U.S. Marshals Service, which in the 2025 fiscal year that ended September 30 recorded 564 threats to 396 judges. So far this year, it has tracked 241 threats to 202 judges.
"The threats are real and they continue," said U.S. District Judge Mark Norris, a Trump appointee in Memphis, Tennessee.
The judge in an October ruling criticized federal authorities for doing little to investigate the shooting of one of his law clerks, which occurred days after the 2024 verdict in a trial of former police officers charged in relation to the beating death of Tyre Nichols, an unarmed Black motorist.
Norris said he, like many other judges recently, had also received an unsolicited pizza delivered to his home in the name of U.S. District Judge Esther Salas' son, who was fatally shot in 2020 by a disgruntled lawyer who came to her New Jersey home.
Judges say those pizza deliveries appear aimed at intimidating and are viewed as a we-know-where-you-live warning.
"I really have never eaten pizza since, and I feel healthier for it," Norris said.
Read more:
US Supreme Court's Roberts says personal hostility aimed at judges has 'got to stop'
US judges may speak out against 'illegitimate' criticism, ethics panel says
US judges recount death threats, 'swatting' after rulings against Trump
These judges ruled against Trump. Then their families came under attack.
