When Does Mercy Go Too Far?

United States Supreme Court building with American flag

A judge gave just over eight years to a would-be Supreme Court assassin, and now the Trump Justice Department is fighting to make sure she is locked up for decades instead.

Story Snapshot

The Trump Justice Department is appealing Sophie Roske’s 97‑month sentence as far too light for an attempted Supreme Court assassination.
Federal sentencing guidelines for Roske’s plot reportedly point to about 30 years to life in prison, not eight.^[6]
Judge Deborah Boardman focused on Roske’s mental health, background, and surrender, not only the planned attack.^[12]
Corporate media now frames the appeal as harsh and “political,” downplaying the threat to conservative justices.^[7]

Why The Justice Department Says Eight Years Is Not Enough

Federal prosecutors under President Trump and Attorney General Pam Bondi asked the court to put Sophie Roske away for at least 30 years to life after she admitted she traveled to Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s home to kill him. Court filings show the sentencing guidelines for her conduct, including planning to kill multiple conservative justices, land in a range of roughly 324 to 405 months, or about 27 to 34 years.^[6] Roske still received only 97 months in prison, plus lifetime supervised release, despite the admitted attempt to murder a sitting justice.

The Department of Justice press release states that Roske, then 29, flew from California to Maryland with a pistol, ammunition, a knife, and burglary tools, and went to Kavanaugh’s neighborhood after the leaked abortion ruling draft enraged her.^[5] In her own statements to investigators, she said the leak “made me upset” and pushed her to plan the killing.^[5] Prosecutors argue that kind of targeted, political violence against a Supreme Court justice demands a sentence that clearly warns anyone else thinking about terrorizing the court.^[5]

How Judge Boardman Justified The 97‑Month Sentence

United States District Judge Deborah Boardman, a 2021 appointee to the federal bench, chose a sentence of 97 months, which is only one month more than Roske’s defense team asked for.^[13] Reporting on the hearing explains that Boardman credited Roske for abandoning her plan, calling 911, and surrendering without firing a shot or entering Kavanaugh’s home.^[12]^[16] She also pointed to Roske’s mental health struggles and personal history as reasons to depart sharply downward from the guideline range.^[12] That balance is now at the center of the appeal.

Attorney General Bondi publicly blasted the decision, calling the punishment “woefully insufficient” for an admitted attempt to kill a Supreme Court justice and vowing to appeal.^[2]^[13] The Justice Department’s appeal brief argues the judge put too much weight on Roske’s personal story, including depression and transgender identity, and did not properly apply a terrorism enhancement that would have kept the sentence near the multi‑decade guideline range.^[1] Legal commentators say appeals of “too lenient” sentences are allowed but often face an uphill battle if the judge stayed within the legal maximum.^[7]

What This Fight Means For Conservatives And The Courts

The Washington Post highlighted that Roske “got eight years” and that now “prosecutors want more,” framing the Trump Justice Department’s appeal as aggressive and possibly political.^[7] Other outlets stress that Roske was “deeply troubled” and surrendered, sometimes giving more space to her background than to the seriousness of plotting to kill multiple conservative justices.^[1]^[2] That kind of coverage risks making an attempted assassination of a Supreme Court justice sound like a sad personal story instead of an attack on the rule of law and on the pro‑life majority on the Court.

WaPo: DOJ Will Appeal 'Her' Sentence to Keep Would-Be Assassin 'Sophie' Roske Behind Bars https://t.co/HLjkq95T5z

— Carol RN *Miss Rush & the Gipper* 👩‍⚕️🇺🇸 🇮🇱🦈 (@pasqueflower19) June 23, 2026

For many on the right, this case ties together several long‑running concerns. A leaker exposed the draft decision that would overturn Roe v. Wade, activists then marched at justices’ homes, and soon after, a heavily armed person showed up outside Justice Kavanaugh’s house.^[2]^[3] Now that same would‑be assassin has a chance to walk free in less than a decade, even though the guidelines say decades.^[6]^[13] The Trump administration’s Justice Department is pushing back, signaling that attacks on conservative justices and on the Supreme Court will be treated as the grave threats they are, not brushed off as the actions of a confused lone wolf.