Condemnation of Social Media Attacks Against Our Federal Trial Judges

New York, New York – The New York County Lawyers Association’s (NYCLA) President, Ronald C. Minkoff, today issued this statement condemning recent social media attacks by the General Counsel (GC) of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that named and endangered federal trial court judges for rejecting positions and actions of the Trump Administration.

I am quite disturbed by the continuing attacks on members of our federal judiciary, such as the recent ones by the GC on federal trial court judges.

On July 17, 2026, a federal judge considering a preliminary injunction request by Burmese plaintiffs holding Temporary Protected Status (TPS) issued a brief stay to consider the implications of the Supreme Court decision upholding the termination of TPS status for Haitians and Syrians. The GC reacted by reposting on the same day a comment about his recent appearance on a podcast in which, “I explained how partisan district judges enter orders in bad faith, knowing they will be reversed, solely to run out the clock.” Some of his followers responded by making threats to the judge. A few days later, on July 23, 2026, the GC responded to a July 20, 2026 memo by the Burmese plaintiffs’ attorneys with the following post that named that judge and three other judges, including Judge Paula Xinis, who was singled out for blocking the illegal deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, “Every day, the brave men and women of @ICEgov risk their lives to remove the Worst of the Worst from our country. Today, in honor of the @DHSgov Worst of the Worst series, I am starting a new series: Worst of the Worst, District Judge Edition.” DHS attorneys did not file their court response to the Burmese memo until four days later, i.e., on July 27, 2026.

I repeat my earlier June 15, 2026 statement that “Few ideas are as fundamental to the rule of law as the principle that judges should not be endangered for acting as judges.” Thus, I strongly condemn those who make inflammatory posts, such as the ones described, that place at serious risk both the rule of law and the targeted judges. We cannot expect judges to rule “without fear or favor” when litigants – particularly lawyers for the Government – put a target on judges’ backs.

# # #

This statement has been issued by the NYCLA President. It has not been reviewed by NYCLA‘s full Board of Directors and does not necessarily represent its views.