Supreme Court's Peacemaker Speaks Out—'Scary Stuff'

Newsweek

2 days ago

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Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan has spoken out about the spike in threats against judges, calling it "scary stuff."
Judges "just need to do what they are obligated to do, which is to do law in the best way they know how to do, make independent, reasoned judgments based on precedent, based on other law, to not be inhibited by any of these threats," Kagan said at a judiciary conference on Thursday, according to The Washington Post.
Newsweek contacted Kagan for further comment via an email to a Supreme Court spokesperson.
Associate Justice Elena Kagan stands during a group photo of the Justices at the Supreme Court in Washington, D.C. on April 23, 2021.
Associate Justice Elena Kagan stands during a group photo of the Justices at the Supreme Court in Washington, D.C. on April 23, 2021.
Erin Schaff/Pool-Getty Images
Why It Matters
Threats against judges are on the rise, at a time when President Donald Trump and his allies have railed against judges who have blocked parts of Trump's agenda, including calling for some to be impeached. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts in March issued a rare statement rejecting calls for impeaching judges.
The U.S. Marshals Service investigated threats against 197 judges between March and late May this year—more than double the number of judges threatened in the previous five months, The Washington Post has reported.
What To Know
Kagan also said that the willingness of some to flout judicial rulings "is just not the way the system works."
She said not specifically mention Trump, but said the biggest offenders were government officials, the Post reported.
Kagan, who is part of the court's liberal wing, joined her liberal colleagues in criticizing the court's emergency rulings in favor of the Trump administration.
But in several cases on the court's regular docket, she sided with the court's more conservative justices.
She was in the majority in 83 percent of all cases—the fourth most frequently of the nine justices—and in 70 percent of nonunanimous cases in the 2024-25 term, according to SCOTUSblog's Stat Pack.
"I think she tries to find common ground when she can," constitutional law professor Harold Krent said about Kagan on a recent episode of the Bloomberg Law podcast.
"I think it is perhaps a positive institutional development, as she is, at least in my view, in some of her decisions, trying to, you know, establish that there is common ground amongst the so-called conservative and so-called liberal justices."
What People Are Saying
Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson said, in part, during a judges' conference in Puerto Rico in May: "The attacks are not random. They seem designed to intimidate those of us who serve in this critical capacity."
She added: "The threats and harassment are attacks on our democracy, on our system of government. And they ultimately risk undermining our Constitution and the rule of law."
Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts warned last month that words from elected officials could lead to threats or acts of violence from others, saying: "It becomes wrapped up in the political dispute that a judge who's doing his or her job is part of the problem. And the danger, of course, is somebody might pick up on that. And we have had, of course, serious threats of violence and murder of judges just simply for doing their work. So I think the political people on both sides of the aisle need to keep that in mind."
Trump said during a speech at a Michigan rally marking his first 100 days on office: "We cannot allow a handful of communist radical left judges to obstruct the enforcement of our laws and assume the duties that belong solely to the president of the United States. Judges are trying to take away the power given to the president to keep our country safe and it's not a good thing."
What's Next
Law enforcement continues to track and respond to threats against judges.