Knives Out For Biden Judge After Lenient Ruling In Kavanaugh Assassination Case

A Biden-appointed federal judge is under fire after sentencing the man who attempted to assassinate U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh to just eight years in prison — far less than the 30 years sought by federal prosecutors.

U.S. District Judge Deborah Boardman sentenced Nicholas Roske, who now identifies as a transgender woman named Sophie, for the 2022 plot against Kavanaugh. The attempt occurred just weeks before the Court issued its historic ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which overturned Roe v. Wade.

The Department of Justice requested 30 years behind bars, citing the gravity of an armed attempt on the life of a sitting justice. Roske’s defense team asked for eight years, claiming their client showed “remorse” and had voluntarily contacted authorities before carrying out the attack. Judge Boardman sided with the defense.

During sentencing, Boardman acknowledged that Roske’s actions were “reprehensible” but argued mitigating factors, including his confession and cooperation, warranted leniency.

That decision sparked immediate outrage from conservatives.

“Maryland U.S. District Judge Deborah Boardman — a Biden appointee — is a national disgrace,” conservative attorney Mike Davis wrote on X. “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.”

Other critics blasted the judge for even raising the possibility of sending Roske — a biological male — to a women’s prison. “She needs to be removed from the bench right the f— now,” one user posted.

Author M.A. Rothman called the ruling “pathetic,” writing: “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. This is beyond parody. The DOJ wanted 30 years. He got 8. And the media barely blinked.”

Some conservatives also warned that the judge appeared to take Roske’s gender identity into account when issuing the reduced sentence.

The Justice Department quickly moved to appeal the decision.

“The attempted assassination of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh was a disgusting attack against our entire judicial system by a profoundly disturbed individual,” U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi 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, first appointed as a magistrate judge in 2019, was nominated by President Joe Biden to the U.S. District Court in Maryland and confirmed in 2021. Before her judicial career, she worked as a federal public defender.

Roske, in a pre-sentencing letter, tried to present himself as remorseful, claiming his plot “was not representative of who I am.” He attributed his actions to mental health issues, suicidal ideation, and difficulty reconciling his gender identity with a “conservative Christian” upbringing.

“I am very glad I did not continue,” Roske wrote. “All I want is to go home to my friends and family and see what good I can do out in the world. Please, for their sake as much as mine, give me the chance to be the best version of myself.”

But to critics, those words ring hollow. An armed assassin waiting outside a Supreme Court Justice’s home — in a moment of maximum political tension — walked away with a sentence lighter than many tax cheats. For many Americans, the message is chilling: political violence against conservatives is being minimized under Biden’s watch.