Christine Rosen writes about a federal judge’s questionable approach to an assassination attempt.
Nicholas Roske, who plotted to murder Justice Brett Kavanaugh and other conservatives on the high court to prevent the overturning of Roe v. Wade, was sentenced in October to eight years in prison by U.S. District Judge Deborah Boardman. The sentence shocked most people who were paying attention to the case, since federal prosecutors had urged a 30-year term. They noted Roske’s elaborate planning and preparation, his purchase of a knife, a gun, and burglary tools, and his clear intent to assassinate the justice—thwarted only by the presence of law enforcement at Kavanaugh’s home, which prompted Roske to turn himself in.
Why did Boardman do it? She explained her remarkable leniency by noting Roske’s recent change from the name under which he was charged, Nicholas, to “Sophie,” and his desire to transition to female. As the New York Times reported, “The judge also said that a lower sentence was warranted because of an executive order issued by President Trump mandating that transgender women be held at male-only federal facilities, which she said could interfere with her [sic] continuing to receive gender transition care.” Boardman added she was happy that Roske’s transition was now being accepted by his family.
That Roske’s opportunistic decision to identify as female was rewarded by a federal judge with a soft landing is another data point in a growing list of examples of how trans ideology is challenging most Americans’ notions of justice and fairness.
The tolerance of Americans for minorities of many types—religious, racial, ethnic, sexual—is a commendable part of our national character. But something significant is happening to Americans when it comes to the demands being made on them to acquiesce to the worldview of the trans movement.
