Attorney General Pam Bondi announced Friday that the Department of Justice will challenge what she described as an overly lenient sentence handed down to the individual who plotted to assassinate Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.
“The attempted assassination of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh was a disgusting attack against our entire judicial system by a profoundly disturbed individual,” Bondi wrote on X. “@TheJusticeDept will be appealing the woefully insufficient sentence imposed by the district court, which does not reflect the horrific facts of this case.”
The decision came after U.S. District Judge Deborah Boardman, appointed by President Joe Biden, sentenced the would-be assassin, Nicholas Roske, who later identified as a transgender woman named “Sophie,” to eight years in prison and lifetime supervised release — the exact sentence requested by the defense.
Federal prosecutors had sought a 30-years-to-life prison term, calling Roske’s actions a calculated effort to undermine the nation’s highest court. Roske was arrested in June 2022 outside Justice Kavanaugh’s Maryland home after traveling from California armed with a Glock 17 pistol, ammunition, zip ties, pepper spray, and burglary tools.
According to investigators, Roske arrived at the Chevy Chase neighborhood by taxi but walked away after spotting deputy U.S. Marshals guarding the property. Moments later, he called 911, reported suicidal thoughts, and asked for psychiatric help, effectively turning himself in.
Federal documents revealed that Roske, then 29, became enraged after the Supreme Court’s draft opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health was leaked, signaling an impending overturn of Roe v. Wade.
“The thought of Roe v Wade and gay marriage both being repealed has me furious,” Roske later admitted to authorities, adding that he had planned to target multiple justices and “carry out an assassination that could alter decisions on the nine-member court for decades to come,” according to statements and encrypted messages recovered by the FBI.
Prosecutors described the plot as a direct threat to judicial independence, writing in their sentencing memo, “The defendant’s actions and intent — which were determined, focused, and undeterred for months — were extremely dangerous to the lives of multiple sitting judges, their family members, and the Constitutional judicial order.”
They urged the court to impose a punishment that would deter similar acts, stating, “The sentence imposed in this case must send the powerful message, both to the defendant and to others who contemplate committing assassination to obstruct judicial independence, that these ends never justify the means and that the consequences are not worth engaging in these acts.”
In court, Roske apologized to Justice Kavanaugh, his family, the rest of the Supreme Court, and the American public, saying he regretted “contributing to a trend of political violence in American politics.” He told the court, “This tragic mistake that I made will follow me for the rest of my life.”
“I can see now how destructive and misguided such acts are, and am ashamed to have not recognized these things sooner,” Roske wrote separately in a statement submitted to the court.
The defense argued for leniency, emphasizing Roske’s “voluntary disclosure of the offense, peaceful surrender, and post-arrest cooperation with law enforcement.” They also pointed to a history of mental illness, including suicidal tendencies, and claimed that prison conditions had worsened under Trump-era policies governing the treatment of transgender inmates.
Attorneys referred to their client using female pronouns in filings but acknowledged that Roske had not legally changed names. “The plan to kill [Kavanaugh], which included her purchasing burglary tools and firearm, was secondary to her months-long desire to kill herself,” the defense memo said, noting Roske had privately come out as transgender in 2020.
During the sentencing hearing, Judge Boardman expressed sympathy for Roske, describing her as “a transgender woman” seeking hormone therapy but still being “assigned to a facility according to the gender of their birth” because of a Trump-era executive order, according to The Daily Caller.
Roske, who has been incarcerated since mid-2022, has reportedly begun undergoing gender-transition treatments while serving time. The Department of Justice’s appeal is expected to focus on whether the eight-year term adequately reflects the seriousness of attempting to assassinate a sitting Supreme Court justice.
{Matzav.com}
