Dreyer: Violence against judges leads to broad disorder

We Americans do not know what we really think of our judges. … Are they heroes or villains?

Hiller B. Zobel, “Why We Hate To Love Judges”

In 1970, Judge Harold Haley was led from his California courtroom with a shotgun wired around his neck. He was killed during the escape attempt of a defendant aided by accomplices. As a 15-year-old, I was shocked to see photos of a stately judge in his robe being publicly kidnapped in broad daylight. Just recently, Judge Steve Meyer of Tippecanoe County and his wife were shot in their home.

Unfortunately, we might no longer be shocked by such brazen attacks. Judge Andrew F. Wilkinson was murdered outside his Maryland home in 2023. Judge John Roemer was murdered in his Wisconsin home in 2022.

The U.S. Senate unanimously passed the Countering Threats and Attacks on Our Judges Act in November 2025. It seeks to establish a “State Judicial Threat Intelligence and Resource Center” to provide centralized technical and physical security assistance for state court trial judges and staff (the U.S. House has failed to act so far).

In 2021, federal judges and court officials were threatened 4,500 times—a 400% increase over six years. Since 2022, federal judges have been threatened 2,256 times, according to the U.S. Marshals Service. A survey last year in connection with the National Judicial College showed 83% of state court trial judges worry about their safety.

Moreover, as we all know, public officials and political activists of any side are subject to violence like never before. Right-wing advocate Charlie Kirk was murdered in public, Democratic Minnesota legislator Melissa Hortman and her husband were killed in their home, and the residence of Democratic Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro was firebombed.

But society’s relationship with judges has always been tenuous. Even Thomas Jefferson was apprehensive about having a U.S. Supreme Court as a co-equal branch. It was the first of its kind in the world. Judges do not have publicists, press conferences or influencers. As a judge serving in public, I always knew all I had was the law—and that was more than enough. But is that understood by the public we serve? The Gallup Poll reported that Americans’ confidence in the legal system dropped to a record low of 35% in 2024.

Speculation regarding reasons for such a public confidence crisis seems to center around: 1) the lack of civic education about the legal system; 2) the relentless and ubiquitous commentary on social media superseding responsible news reporting; and, most important, 3) constant political personal assaults. It is rare not to read, hear or see a politician committing to the impeachment (high crimes and misdemeanors) of a particular judge because of a ruling on the law. This intentionally tries to lead the public to believe that any judge who rules against you is a very bad person.

Such threatening of judges for a political purpose is dangerous. It lessens the rule of law because it sets a public standard to disrespect the courts. The more the public disrespects the courts, the less check and balance, and less democracy, we really have. Individual officeholders govern and legislate. But judging is a dynamic endeavor moving the world along every day. If judges are seen just like any other social adversary trying to fight others over an issue, then the public might be less likely to understand their true work as arbitrators and problem-solvers. So hating a judge may become no different than hating our rival sports teams.

Lawyers and judges are the stewards of the American legal system, and we know our duty to promote civility to one another and to respect our courts of law, even when we disagree. Recently, Vice President JD Vance visited Minnesota to urge cooperation to “lower the temperature and lower the chaos.”

Beyond lawyers and judges, a serious, tangible and vocal commitment is necessary to face the hard work of overcoming the epidemic of violence. The legal system is a cornerstone of our republic, so when public confidence is down, disorder gains traction. Hate and violence against judges are not isolated incidents. Will society at large see that the threat to judges is a threat to themselves? We have to hope that it will before it is too late.•

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Dreyer, a senior judge, presided in Marion Superior Court from 1997-2020. He is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame and Notre Dame Law School. Opinions expressed are those of the author.