Federal judges are sounding the alarm over unsolicited deliveries of pizzas to their homes, something which they view as a tactic of intimidation against them. Some of the judiciary in question are overseeing cases that involve the White House administration.
Newsweek has reached out to the office to one of the judges involved, Michelle Childs, via email for comment.
Why It Matters
Since his return to the White House, Trump has issued 147 executive orders, according to the Federal Register. Said orders are part of the implementation of a conservative agenda on issues including immigration, the economy and transgender rights.
Many of these orders face legal challenges and opposition from members of the judiciary, with some issuing orders to block policies from taking effect. Clashes with the president have ensued, and these judges are increasingly facing scrutiny from conservatives.
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What To Know
Unsolicited delivery of pizza or other goods to a home address can be a harassment or an intimidation tactic; the purpose of which is to make it clear that the individual sending the item knows where you, and often your family live.
U.S. Circuit Judge Michelle Childs, who serves in Washington D.C. spoke to The Washington Post and told the outlet she had seven pizzas delivered this year, starting in February when she was working on a case involving Trump. She described the incident as “unsettling.”
U.S. District Judge Esther Salas, whose son Daniel Anderl was fatally shot by an attorney who was posing as a FedEx delivery driver, told the Post that she has heard from judges in multiple states who have been sent pizzas under the name of her son.
She told the outlet, “It went from judges getting pizzas, to then judges’ children getting pizzas, to then judges getting pizzas or their children getting pizzas that they didn’t order in my murdered son’s name.”
“To have his name weaponized as a vehicle of fear and intimidation, that takes quite a toll,” Salas said.
Senator Dick Durbin, an Illinois Democrat, recently called on federal officials to investigate these anonymous deliveries.
In a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel sent on Tuesday, May 6, he wrote that “these deliveries are threats intended to show that those seeking to intimidate the targeted judge know the judge’s address or their family members’ addresses,” and said that people responsibly should be “held accountable to the full extent of the law.”
The U.S. Marshall’s office shared the following statement with Newsweek via email about the unsolicited pizza deliveries, “The United States Marshal Service is looking into all the unsolicited pizza deliveries to federal judges and taking appropriate steps to address the matter.”
What People Are Saying
U.S. Circuit Judge J. Michelle Childs told The Washington Post “It’s unsettling because I’d like to go to work every day, even with the hardest case, just feeling like there’s no sense of intimidation…it’s really an unnecessary and an unfortunate threat to our security when we’re trying to be judicial officers in a very neutral position with respect to our cases.”
Senator Dick Durbin, in a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel “These incidents threaten not only judges and their families, but also judicial independence and the rule of law.”
What’s Next
Whether such deliveries continue and how a legal or governmental response to the senders might look remains to be seen.