Kavanaugh Assailant Gets 97 Months, Lifetime Supervision

Nicholas John Roske — who has begun going by Sophie Roske — traveled from California to Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s Maryland home on June 8, 2022, armed with a Glock, ammunition, knives, lock‑picking tools and other items, and pleaded guilty in April to attempting to kill or kidnap a Supreme Court justice. U.S. District Judge Deborah Boardman sentenced Roske to 97 months (eight years, one month) in federal prison plus lifetime court supervision. Prosecutors had sought a minimum 30‑year term, argued for terrorism enhancements after finding extensive internet searches and related research, and the Department of Justice said it will appeal the sentence as woefully insufficient. Judge Boardman largely declined to apply a terrorism enhancement, said she considered Roske’s mental‑health history, family support letters and concerns about Bureau of Prisons policies for transgender inmates, and imposed the term the defense requested. Roske told investigators he planned to shoot Kavanaugh and then himself but called 911 outside the home; court filings and media outlets have criticized the sentence as lenient, prompting debate about sentencing, prison designation for transgender inmates and how courts weigh mental‑health mitigation in politically motivated violence cases.