The United States Department of Justice is vowing to appeal what it is describing as a “woefully insufficient” sentence for the trans-identified man who attempted to assassinate U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.
In a statement published Friday, the DOJ announced that Nicholas Roske was sentenced to eight years in prison for attempting to kill Kavanaugh in June 2022, as the U.S. Supreme Court was poised to hand down the Dobbs v. Jackson decision that overruled the Roe v. Wade ruling that made abortion legal nationwide.
A leaked draft of the Dobbs decision published in May 2022 indicated that Kavanaugh was one of five justices who had signed onto the majority opinion overruling Roe, which was released two weeks after Kavanaugh’s attempted assassination.
Roske was arrested outside Kavanaugh’s home in Maryland after contacting the police at the request of his sister, whom he had informed of his intentions before carrying out his plan. He had a gun, a knife and pepper spray in his possession at the time of his arrest.
Roske admitted that he wanted to kill Kavanaugh because of outrage over the impending overturning of Roe and pleaded guilty to attempting to assassinate a U.S. justice earlier this year. The DOJ sought a sentence of 30 years to life for Roske.
Instead, Judge Deborah Boardman of the U.S. District of Maryland handed down a sentence that aligned with the penalty sought by Roske’s attorneys. A sentencing memo submitted to Boardman last month explained that Roske identifies as a woman named Sophie and insisted that the defendant’s longstanding issues with gender identity and mental health justified the lighter sentence.
Friday’s sentencing, which occurred just ahead of the seventh anniversary of Kavanaugh’s confirmation to the U.S. Supreme Court, did not sit well with U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi. “The attempted assassination of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh was a disgusting attack against our entire judicial system by a profoundly disturbed individual,” she said.
“The Department of Justice will be appealing the woefully insufficient sentence imposed by the district court, which does not reflect the horrific facts of this case,” Bondi vowed.
Boardman, appointed to the bench by former President Joe Biden, has established a reputation for handing down rulings sympathizing with progressive political causes. In 2023, she issued a ruling siding against a group of parents in Montgomery County, Maryland, who sought to opt their children out of LGBT-related curriculum. Two years later, the Supreme Court reversed her ruling in the Mahmoud v. Taylor decision.
Earlier this year, Boardman issued a ruling blocking President Donald Trump’s executive order restricting birthright citizenship. On his podcast “Verdict With Ted Cruz” Monday, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, called Boardman “completely unfit to be a federal judge” over her ruling in the Roske case and called for the Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives to impeach her.
“I would love to have a trial in the Senate,” he said. “Do we want judges who refuse to enforce the criminal law for psychopathic murderers who are trying to murder Supreme Court justices? I think the obvious answer is no.”
The outrage over the sentence imposed against Kavanaugh’s would-be assassin comes at a time when concerns about political violence in the U.S. are receiving renewed attention following the politically motivated assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk last month.
Kavanaugh’s attempted assassination was one of many examples of violence and vandalism perpetrated by pro-abortion activists following the publication of the draft Dobbs decision and the weeks following the landmark ruling.
Ryan Foley is a reporter for The Christian Post. He can be reached at: ryan.foley@christianpost.com
