Dear fellow lawyers and other members of the legal profession:

Please join us in publicly supporting our system of justice and the judges who make its promise a reality. We have a 250-year-old commitment to a system that respects the rule of law, separation of powers, and judicial independence. That system is at risk.

We reject demeaning attacks on judges and the insistence by the President, Attorney General, and other high-ranking officials that federal judges do not have the authority to review or restrain actions of the Executive Branch. The separation of powers doctrine enshrined in our Constitution prohibits such a proposition. As Chief Justice John Roberts observed recently, “In our Constitution, … the judiciary is a co-equal branch of government, separate from the others …. Its job is to, obviously, decide cases but, in the course of that, check the excesses of Congress or the executive, and that does require a degree of independence.” (5/7/25 appearance in Buffalo, NY).

We endorse informed criticism of court decisions. But it is wrong and dangerous to label the decision-makers as “deranged lunatics” and “communists” or to call for their impeachment because of a disagreement with a judicial opinion. Normalizing this hyperbole encourages threatened and actual physical harm to judges and undermines respect for the judiciary. The ABA, the Hennepin and Ramsey County Bar Associations, and the Minnesota State Bar Association have all agreed: “Words and actions matter. And the intimidating words and actions we have heard and seen must end. They are designed to cow our country’s judges, our country’s courts and our legal profession.” (ABA Statement 3/3/25; Bar Organizations’ Statement 3/26/25). 

It is especially appropriate for all of us to support the judiciary at this important moment in our nation’s history. We have all sworn to support and uphold the Constitution. As former President and Supreme Court Chief Justice, William Howard Taft, observed more than a century ago, “[O]ur courts … and our profession …, are necessarily so bound together in our judicial system that an attack upon the courts is an attack upon our profession ….” (Ethics in Service 1, 1915).

Finally, we concur in the call to action found in the recent American Board of Trial Advocates’ Statement Defending the Rule of Law: “This is a defining moment—not just for our profession but for our country…. Now is the time for every lawyer—whether in private practice, public service, academia, or corporate counsel—to step forward. The law does not protect itself; it survives because those sworn to uphold it have the courage to do so…. We will not be silent. We will not stop.” (ABOTA Statement 4/2/25).

The undersigned retired judges and both currently and formerly practicing attorneys respectfully request that you join with us in standing up for our judges to ensure that their crucial role in maintaining the rule of law will be vigorously defended.

Signatories

Consuela Abotsi-Kowu

Lisa Agrimonti

Kristy L. Albrecht

Joseph Alexander

Richard Allyn

Steve Alpert

David Alsop

Hon. Paul Anderson (Ret.)

Jeffrey Ansel

Robert Aronson

Hon. Steve Askew (Ret.)

David Asp

Shannon M. Awsumb

Joseph T. Bagnoli

James Baillie

Cody Bauer

Kate M. Baxter-Kauf

Lisa Pritchard Bayley

Michelle Beeman

Stephen Befort

Louise Behrendt

Hon. Paul Benshoof (Ret.)

Gary Berg

Maureen Kane Berg

Thomas Berg

Hon. Kathleen Blatz (Ret.)

Mark Bloomquist

Robert C. Boisvert, Jr.

Andrea Bond

Joseph C. Bourne

Thomas Boyd

W. Joseph  Bruckner

Jay A. Brunner

Christina Brusven

Bill Burdett

Jonathan M. Bye

Bill  Cameron

Mark Carpenter

Jacalyn N.  Chinander

John Choi

Robert P. Christensen

Anna E. Christie

Brian D. Clark

Ann Cofell

Ann Cohen

Kristin N.  Condon

Beverly Conerton

Thomas J. Conlin

Peg Corneille

Dennis Coyne

Sarah Crippen

Amber Crow

Ken Cutler

R. Scott Davies

Luke P. de Leon

Monica Detert

Hon. Mel Dickstein (Ret.)

Joe Dixon, Jr.

Bill Donohue

Hon. Marybeth Dorn (Ret.)

John Dornik

James Dorsey

Janel  Dressen

Keith Dunder

Jim Early

George Eck

Brian C. Edstrom

Alan C. Eidsness

Christie Eller

Kara Ellingson

Keith Ellison

Douglas Elsass

Jennifer Evans

Karen Evans

Marie A. Failinger

Grant Fairbairn

Gregg  Fishbein

Terry Fleming

David Forsberg

Richard Forschler

Daniel Witt Fram

Hon. Tom Fraser (Ret.)

Barbara A. Frey

Lee Friedman

Susan Gaertner

Phillip Gainsley

Harry  Gallaher

Tibor M. Gallo

Joe Genereux

Dan Gerhan

Barry  Gersick

Lorna Gleason

Frederick Goetz

Avron Gordon

John Gordon

Cathy E. Gorlin

Hazen Graves

Kathryn A. Graves

Joseph  Green

Clifford Greene

H. Theodore  Grindal

Luke Grundman

Randy G. Gullickson

Marvin L. Gurewitz

Katherine Hadley

Rodger Hagen

R. David  Hahn

Kathryn Hahne

Sue Haigh

Trudy Halla

Sue Halverson

Robyn Hansen

Hon. Samuel  Hanson (Ret.)

Kent Harbison

Alan J. Harris

Frank V. Harris

Julie K. Harris

Robert Hartman

Cathy  Haukedahl

Roger Heegaard

William P. Hefner

Peter Hennigan

Anne L. Henry

Beverly Jones Heydinger

Erica Holzer

Pamela Hoopes

Stephen Hopkins

Aaron  Hove

Deborah Huskins

Josh Jacobson

Eric Janus

Brian N. Johnson

Hon. Gregg Johnson (Ret.)

Sara H. Jones

Hon. Tom Kalitowski (Ret.)

Kristine Legler Kaplan

Phyllis Karasov

Ari Kasper

Andrea  Kaufman

Timothy J. Keane

Timothy J. Keenan

John Keller

Hon. Jeff Keyes (Ret.)

Kenneth Kirwin

Rachel A. Kitze Collins

Peter Knapp

Mark Knutson

Liz Kramer

Duane Krohnke

Kyle  Kroll

James W.A. Ladner

Edward Laine

Stephen Laitinen

Melissa Muro LaMere

Jeremy Lane

Jim Langdon

Jacob  Lanthier

Peter E.  Larsen

Kira Q.  Le

Katie Crosby Lehmann

Kelly Lelo

Raleigh Hannah Levine

Olivia T. Levinson

Gail Lewellan

Leanne Litfin

James Long

Brent A. Lorentz

Vince  Louwagie

Thomas Lovett

Alan Maclin

Hon. Eric Magnuson (Ret.)

Richard Mark

Tim Marx

Nancy V. Mate

Joseph G. Maternowski

Laura  Matson

James Mayer

Kevin McCarthy

Michael McCarthy

David McDonald

Larry McDonough

Bill McGeveran

Nancy McLean

Hon. David Minge (Ret.)

Nicole M. Moen

Keith Moheban

Andrew Mohring

Bob Moilanen

Diana Morrissey

Martin  Munic

Emmanuel Munson-Regala

Gregory J. Myers

Charles Nadler

Hon. Rosanne Nathanson (Ret.)

Charles Nauen

Carolyn Nestingen

Eric Nilsson

Mark Nolan

Thomas Norby

Joe Nunez

Paschal Nwokocha

Steven Nyquist

Sandra Oakes

Penny Oleson

David Bradley Olsen

Elliot L. Olsen

Gail M. Olson

Pat  O'Neill III

Vance Opperman

Stephen E. Otto

Tom Overton

Hon. Alan C. Page (Ret.)

Jerry Paquin

Matthew Pelikan

Bill Pentelovitch

Norman Pentelovitch

Jerod Peterson

Kathleen Flynn Peterson

Ken Peterson

Paul  Peterson

Philip Pfaffly

Daniel  Pollock

Hon. C.A. Porter, Jr.(Ret.)

Joseph  Price

Jane Prohaska

John Provo

Lawrence Pry

Tom Pursell

Jennifer Pusch

Steven J. Quam

Kevin Raich

Boyd H. Ratchye

Bruce C. Recher

Lindsay Remakel

Lewis A. Remele, Jr.

Trudy Richter

Robert Roche

Walter H. Rockenstein II

Rebecca Rom

Becky T. Rooney

Edward F. Rooney

Barbara Lano Rummel

Rich Ruohonen

Margaret Russell

James M. Samples

Karen Schanfield

Ryan Schildkraut

Laura Sue Schlatter

Elizabeth Schmiesing

James Schoessler

David Schultz

Matthew Schwandt

James Schwebel

Sally Scoggin

Kelley Scrocca

Stephen Shakman

Blake Shepard

Bill Sierks

Alan Silver

Peter Sipkins

Michael L.  Skoglund

Douglas L. Skor

Richard Slowes

Theodore J. Smetak

Conor H.M. Smith

Richard D. Snyder

Joseph M. Sokolowski

Hon. Rick Solum (Ret.)

George Soule

Lisa T. Spencer

Hon. Richard Spicer (Ret.)

Byron Starns

Michael K. Steenson

Gary L. Stenson

Leo Stern

Elizabeth Storaasli

Melissa Stull

Amy Swedberg

William Szotkowski

Marshall Tanick

Paula Weseman Theisen

Mark Thieroff

Cheryl Thomas

Peter Thompson

Tom Tinkham

Benjamin Tozer

Barbara Tretheway

Trudi Noel Trysla

Mike Unger

Michele Vaillancourt

Gary  Van Cleve

Tracy J. Van Steenburgh

Diana Vance-Bryan

Hon. Jack Van de North (Ret.)

Mark Vyvyan

Daniel Wachtler

Arielle S. Wagner

Derek C. Waller

Ann Dunn Wessberg

John Wheaton

Robert White

James E. Wilkinson

Alan C. Williams

Stuart Williams

Perry Wilson

Stephen Winnick

Kathleen L. Winters

Allison Woodbury

Karl Yeager

Julian C. Zebot

David J. Zoll