Joshua Haiar/South Dakota Searchlight
SIOUX FALLS — The leader of an association of federal judges did not hesitate Monday when asked about her colleagues’ top concern.
“I think every judge right now is concerned about their safety and the safety of their families,” said Judge Karen Schreier, speaking to the Sioux Falls Downtown Rotary Club at the South Dakota Military Heritage Alliance.
Schreier said judges across the country are facing “never-before-seen levels of threats” and intimidation, which she called “an attack on the rule of law itself.”
Schreier, who’s based at the federal courthouse in Sioux Falls, is the president of the 1,100-member Federal Judges Association. In May, she was appointed to a new national Judicial Security and Independence Task Force, created by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts to address growing threats against federal judges and challenges to the judiciary’s independence.
Schreier cited an incident earlier this year when the sister of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett was targeted with a bomb threat. The U.S. Marshals Service has logged 562 threats against federal judges so far this year. More than 100 threatening packages have been delivered to federal judges’ homes, Schreier said, “sending a not-so-subtle message that we know where you live.”
Schreier also recalled the 2020 killing of federal Judge Esther Salas’ son in New Jersey by a lawyer who had previously lost a case in Salas’ court. Some judges, Schreier said, have been “doxed” with their private information posted online, while others — including South Dakota’s chief federal judge, Roberto Lang — have been “swatted,” a hoax in which false reports draw armed police to someone’s home.
During an audience question-and-answer session, South Dakota NewsWatch co-founder and former journalist Jack Marsh asked Schreier about criticism of the judiciary from political leaders, specifically President Donald Trump. The president has harshly criticized and even called for the impeachment of judges who ruled against him.
Schreier made general comments but declined to address Trump specifically, saying her restraint reflects the judiciary’s obligation to stay above partisan conflict.
“If judges are to protect the rights and liberties of citizens and to act as an effective check on the other branches of government, they must be independent,” she said. “They need to be free to decide cases based on the law.”