Federal judge criticized for 8-year sentence in Kavanaugh assassination attempt

The federal judge who sentenced the defendant found guilty of attempting to assassinate U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh is being criticized by conservatives on social media for the length of the sentence and concerns about Nicholas Roske, who goes by Sophie, identifying as transgender.

Judge Deborah Boardman, a Biden appointee, sentenced Roske to eight years in prison Friday for attempting to assassinate Kavanaugh in June 2022 in the weeks before the Supreme Court’s landmark Dobbs decision.

The sentence is more lenient than what the Department of Justice (DOJ) had sought. Prosecutors said Roske should face at least 30 years, while Roske’s defense team had asked for eight.

Boardman said during a sentencing hearing that while Roske’s actions were “reprehensible,” she also considered a string of mitigating factors, including that Roske “spontaneously confessed to and cooperated with police.”

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“Maryland U.S. District Judge Deborah Boardman—a Biden appointee—is a national disgrace,” Mike Davis, a conservative lawyer and strategist and former chief counsel for nominations to Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley, wrote on X on Friday. 

“She only sentenced to 8 years, instead of 30, someone who attempted to murder Justice Kavanaugh and his family in their home. Make no mistake: Today’s Democrats want conservatives killed.”

Another person wrote that Boardman “needs to be removed from the bench right the f— now,” then shared a screenshot of another post mentioning that Boardman asked if Roske would be sent to a women’s prison. 

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Author M.A. Rothman called the sentence “pathetic.”

“A guy who showed up at a Supreme Court Justice’s house armed and ready to k*ll him just got a lighter sentence than some people get for tax crimes — and the judge turned it into a trans acceptance story,” he added. “This is beyond parody. The DOJ wanted 30 years. He got 8. And the media barely blinked.” 

Another person on X balked at Boardman considering the “fact that he now identifies as a woman into giving him a lower sentence.”

The DOJ plans to appeal the sentence, Attorney General Pam Bondi announced on Friday. 

“The attempted assassination of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh was a disgusting attack against our entire judicial system by a profoundly disturbed individual,” she 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.” 

Boardman was appointed as a U.S. magistrate judge for the District of Maryland in 2019, until she was nominated by former President Joe Biden to be a U.S. district judge. She was confirmed by the Senate in 2021. She previously worked as a public defender.  

Fox News’ Ashley Oliver and Jake Gibson contributed to this report.