State Court Judges Face Threats as Congress Weighs Security Bill

After Judge Carroll Kelly presided over a cyberstalking case earlier this year, the losing litigant warned her, “You’re going to see what happens to you now.”

Hours later, the Florida state court judge had 10,000 new emails clogging her inbox. By the next morning, it had increased ten-fold. She also received fraud alerts on her credit cards and an airline miles account.

The onslaught temporarily shut down her work as Kelly struggled to regain control of her email. It also took a personal toll, Kelly said at a virtual “Speak Up for Justice” event on Thursday featuring state and local judges.

“It makes me fearful. I’m still always looking — did that person come back? Are they going to try again?” she said.

Threats against the judiciary have climbed in recent years, with more than 543 threats logged against federal judges so far this fiscal year, according to data by the US Marshals Service as of Sept. 15.

No such centralized system tracks threats and attacks against state and local judges, who are more likely to interact with litigants in cases related to domestic violence and custody decisions, and must rely on local law enforcement in their communities.

Judge Jennifer Johnson, another Florida state court judge, said at the event that it took five months for law enforcement to approach a man who posted on social media a video game-style video, played during the event, of the judge being attacked with a hatchet and a gun.

“There was nowhere to report it to, really, other than my local sheriff’s office, which is very rural,” Johnson said.

Several judges noted that women on their benches have been disproportionately affected by threats.

After the Colorado Supreme Court issued a divided decision about two years in a case “that generated a lot of controversy,” all of the court’s justices received a “wave of attacks,” including racist and misogynistic messages, Chief Justice Monica Márquez said.

Márquez didn’t specify the case but was likely referring to the court’s 2023 decision, since overturned by the US Supreme Court, that President Donald Trump wasn’t eligible to run for office in that state over his role in the Jan. 6, 2021 riot at the US Capitol.

“It was very clear as time passed that the women on our court were receiving more of that attention, and the flavor of that attention was gendered,” Márquez said.

Sens. Chris Coons (D-Del.) and John Cornyn (R-Texas) introduced bipartisan legislation (S. 2379) in July to provide more research and resources to help state and local judges manage threats. An earlier version of the bill passed the Senate unanimously last year but languished in the House.

Coons, who also spoke at the event, said he’s “very hopeful” the bill will make it to Trump’s desk.