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A federal judge sentenced Nicholas Roske, who now goes by Sophie, to eight years in prison on Friday for attempting to murder Justice Brett Kavanaugh in the weeks leading up to the Supreme Court’s landmark Dobbs decision.
The sentence is far lower than what the Department of Justice had sought. Prosecutors said Roske should face at least 30 years, while Roske’s defense team had asked for eight.
Judge Deborah Boardman said during the sentencing hearing that while Roske’s actions were “reprehensible,” the judge also considered a string of mitigating factors, including that Roske “spontaneously confessed to and cooperated with police.”
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“I believe Ms. Roske understands that what she did was terribly wrong. I find her remorse sincere,” Boardman said.
DOJ prosecutor Coreen Mao said the sentence “must send the very strong, very clear message that the ends never justify violent means.”
Kavanaugh also received a death threat in April from someone who invoked Roske’s name and referenced shooting the justice in the head, Mao said, stressing a need to deter such behavior. That revelation comes as judges say they have faced a rise in threats from people across the political spectrum in recent years.
During the hearing, Boardman referred to Roske as a transgender woman, and Roske’s attorneys told the court recently that while their client’s legal name is Nicholas, Roske goes by the name Sophie and uses female pronouns.
Boardman, a Biden appointee, said she factored into the sentence her concern about Trump’s executive order requiring transgender inmates to be detained in prisons that correspond to their sex at birth.
Roske pleaded guilty in April to one charge of attempting to murder a Supreme Court justice, which carries a maximum sentence of life in prison.
On June 8, 2022, Roske flew from California to Virginia and took a taxi to Kavanaugh’s address, armed with a pistol, knife, lock picking set, duct tape, hammer, crowbar and tactical gear.
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In the weeks leading up to the incident, the defendant searched extensively online for information about several justices, mass shooters, ways to harm people and graphic images of people with knife wounds. One search read, “Does twisting or dragging a knife cause more damage.”
Roske’s internet history also signaled a desire to affect the outcome of the then-looming Dobbs decision, in which the Supreme Court was expected to overturn the federal right to abortion.
The assassination attempt came at a time when activists were protesting in front of conservative justices’ homes, leading the DOJ to deploy U.S. marshals to their houses to provide around-the-clock security.
Roske acknowledged noticing marshals at Kavanaugh’s house, which prosecutors said prompted Roske to change course and walk down the street before self-reporting to 911.
Roske’s “goal explicitly was both to alter the outcome of a pending Supreme Court case, a consequential case,” and “to change the composition of the court for decades to come,” Mao argued to the judge.
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Roske’s attorneys played part of the 911 call for the courtroom, in which Roske tells a dispatcher about having “suicidal and homicidal thoughts.” The lawyers emphasized that Roske has long been severely depressed and has been seeking treatment.
Appearing in a yellow jumpsuit in the courtroom, Roske apologized for terrorizing Kavanaugh and his family and for “contributing to the fear judges experience as a result of doing their jobs.”
“I have been portrayed as a monster, and this tragic mistake I made will follow me for the rest of my life,” Roske said.
The judge also sentenced Roske to a lifetime of supervised release. The DOJ is able to appeal the sentence because it is well under the sentencing guidelines.
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