Surge in Threats to Federal Judges Amid Post-2024 Political Climate

Two new academic reports released this week reveal a sharp increase in violent threats against U.S. federal judges. Interviewed judges—most speaking anonymously—describe a wave of harassing phone calls, emails, “pizza-doxxing” (unsolicited pizza deliveries to their homes), and “swatting” incidents (false emergency reports that summon police). One judge said they received more than 700 threats and built a safe room after their home floor plan was posted online. The reports link the surge to the period beginning in early 2025, when former President Donald Trump returned to office and publicly criticized judges who ruled against his administration.

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The Brennan Center for Justice at NYU Law and a joint project of NYU’s Rule of Law Lab and the Berkeley Judicial Institute conducted the studies. Both reports are the first academic examinations of judicial intimidation based on interviews with 34 sitting and retired judges and publicly available data.

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• Over 200 pizza-doxxing incidents targeting judges have been recorded as of February 2026, according to U.S. District Judge Esther Salas.

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• At least 20 of those incidents used the name of Salas’s murdered son, Daniel, as the pizza deliverer.

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• One judge reported more than 700 direct threats.

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• The reports cite dozens of swatting episodes and a pattern of threats tied to high-profile cases such as the Jan. 6 Capitol attack and challenges to federal policies.

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Judge William G. Young, a senior U.S. Stephen Spaulding, managing director of the Brennan Center’s Kohlberg Center on the Supreme Court, urged Congress to work with the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts to create a commission on judicial security. Supreme Court Justices Amy Coney Barrett and Elena Kagan testified in July that their court needs increased security funding; Barrett herself was pizza-doxxed in March and swatted in May. Singh warned that the U.S. Marshals Service, responsible for federal judicial protection, is understaffed and that doxxing and swatting cases are rarely prosecuted.

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• “Never have I experienced or seen anything like this — never — including [from] this president’s prior administration,” — William G. Young, judge — William G. Young, senior U.S. district judge

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