Attempted Assassin of Supreme Court Justice Sentenced to Eight Years in Prison

Articles | October 3, 2025 | by Catholics for Catholics

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Nicholas Roske, who now identifies as a transgender woman, tried to kill Justice Brett Kavanaugh. 

By Catholics for Catholics

A federal judge sentenced a man on Friday to eight years in prison for attempting to kill a Supreme Court Judge.

Nicholas Roske, who now identifies as transgender woman and uses the name “Sophie,” was sentenced for attempting to kill Justice Brett Kavanaugh in the weeks leading up to the Supreme Court’s landmark Dobbs decision, according to Fox News. On June 8, 2022, Roske took a plane from California to Virginia and boarded a taxi to Kavanaugh’s home; he was armed with a pistol, knife, lock picking set, duct tape, hammer, crowbar and tactical gear.

The sentence is much lower than what the Department of Justice had sought. Prosecutors said Roske should have at least 30 years, while Roske’s defense team had asked for eight.

But during the sentencing, Judge Deborah Boardman, a Joe Biden appointee, said that while Roske’s actions were “reprehensible,” the judge also pondered over a string of lessening factors, including that Roske “spontaneously confessed to and cooperated with police.”

“I believe Ms. Roske understands that what she did was terribly wrong. I find her remorse sincere,” Boardman said.

Nevertheless, Coreen Mao, the DOJ prosecutor said the sentence “must send the very strong, very clear message that the ends never justify violent means.”

In addition, Mao said Kavanaugh also received a death threat in April from someone who mentioned Roske’s name and spoke about shooting the justice in the head, 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.