During a House Appropriations Committee hearing last week, Rep. Glenn Ivey (D-MD) warned of using charged, polarized language to describe the Judiciary.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00The vice chair, Mr. Lelotta, will take over at this point.
00:03The chair now recognizes Mr. Ivey from Maryland.
00:11Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
00:12Glad to see my colleague is moving up to the big chair here.
00:19I do want to thank you all for coming in to testify.
00:22I certainly share the views of Mr. Hoyer with respect to the need for the increases.
00:28For the judiciary, cybersecurity, I think, in particular, is an interest of mine.
00:35I haven't served on the Homeland Security Committee last year.
00:39But personal security for judges and personnel is a big one for me, too.
00:44We had a state judge who was assassinated in 2023.
00:50He'd made a ruling earlier in the courthouse that day.
00:54The aggrieved party followed him home and shot him in his driveway.
00:58And I'm aware of the case.
01:02I believe there was an individual who threatened, I think it was Justice Kavanaugh, and he's being prosecuted currently.
01:08So we know these things are out there, and we know they happen on both sides.
01:12I happened to work on the task force last year with respect to the attempted assassination of then-candidate Trump.
01:20But I do want to say this, though, and I think it's important for, because there are these issues on both sides and the judiciary and beyond, I think what we say in politics and as elected officials is very important for us to pay attention to.
01:36I do think, as Mr. Hoyer pointed out, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jordan's comments with respect to cutting funds to the judiciary, depending on some of your rulings, don't agree with that policy for sure.
01:52I think it impedes on separation of powers and the independence of the judiciary.
01:55But there are certainly others that have crossed the line, and ironically, I think President Trump, now President Trump, certainly falls into that category with some of the statements that he's made.
02:08I think with respect to Judge Boesburg, who's practicing here in the District of Columbia, or he's sitting here in the District of Columbia, calling him a troublemaker, an agitator, calling him a crooked judge, that he should be impeached, I thought was totally inappropriate and over the line.
02:25And talking about judges as lunatics is another one that I think is bad.
02:31And then with respect to Judge Chutkin, who was sitting in one of his criminal cases, he said this judge is the most evil person during the dependency of that case.
02:46And I just don't think that's the kind of language that we should be projecting into the public, especially in these times.
02:54Because we know these are polarized times politically.
02:58I know people have strong views out there about what's happening.
03:02I have strong views, too.
03:03But I think it's important for us to not cross that line and say things that we think or should think could generate some sort of a violent response.
03:13And then from a legal and constitutional standpoint, the independence of the judiciary, I think that's critical, too.
03:21I've got seven House Republican colleagues who filed articles of impeachment against sitting judges.
03:26One of the judges I mentioned a moment ago is one of those seven.
03:30And no showing or even allegation of wrongdoing, particularly just disagreement with the rulings that they issued in those particular cases that happened to involve the Trump administration.
03:43And, you know, they certainly have a right to their own views.
03:45But, again, I think it's important for us, not so much because that might create an issue of violence, but just respect for the Constitution and what it should mean when you start talking about impeaching judges.
03:57That's a big step.
03:59And I think, you know, to my colleagues here and beyond, we should be very sensitive about making those kinds of statements and crossing those lines.
04:08When I was a staffer here in the late 80s, we impeached two judges.
04:14And they clearly crossed the lines with respect to bribery, for example.
04:20And I thought impeachment was clearly merited there because under the standards set by the Constitution, they broke that.
04:26And they broke the trust of the American people.
04:29But throwing that term around, issuing articles of impeachment kind of willy-nilly is beneath what this institution should be doing.
04:40So thank you so much for the work that you all are doing.
04:43I know these are going to be challenging times with respect to seeking the increases that you're seeking.
04:49I share the need for the increase for federal public defenders having practiced, and I've been on both sides of that.
04:58It's critical to make sure we've got enough people there to handle the workload that's coming through.
05:03That workload, certainly in the District of Columbia, is increasing.
05:07And we need to make sure that we're up to the task on that front and making sure that people have a chance to get equal justice.
05:13So thank you for the work that you do.
05:15I appreciate your testimony, and I yield back.