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A resident from California who confessed to attempting to assassinate US Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh in 2022 was handed a prison term on Friday to 97 months in a federal penitentiary.

Court Hearing and Judicial Comments

The defendant, the accused, who was charged under her original name Nicholas Roske but now uses she/her pronouns, received her punishment during a court hearing before US District Judge Deborah Boardman in the Maryland city of Greenbelt.

Judge Boardman described Roske's crime as "absolutely reprehensible," but added that the accused showed genuine remorse, had a clean history, and was not expected to commit further crimes.

Case Background and Guilty Plea

Roske pleaded guilty in April to the charge of trying to kill a justice and had been subject to a possible life imprisonment. Legal authorities stated that she traveled from California carrying a firearm, bullets, a crowbar, irritant spray, and other items with the intent to carry out a killing "for terroristic purposes."

Upon arriving at Kavanaugh's home, Roske called the police after observing US marshals stationed outside the house, telling the dispatcher that she was suicidal and intended to kill Justice Kavanaugh, as recorded in legal documents.

Reasons and Defendant's Statement

Prosecutors indicated that Roske, who was 26 at the time when arrested, was distressed about expected Supreme Court opinions that would eliminate the federal abortion protections and weaken firearm laws.

Speaking directly to the district judge during Friday's proceeding, Roske expressed regret to Kavanaugh and his family for "the considerable distress" she had caused them.

"People have depicted me as a villain, and this tragic mistake I made will haunt me for the rest of my life," the defendant said.

Prosecution's Argument and Defense's Plea

Prosecutors had advocated for a prison sentence of no less than three decades, stating that Roske had premeditated her crime for months and was resolved to locate the residences of four unnamed sitting Supreme Court justices.

"The defendant posed a very real threat to our governmental structure, our founding document," federal prosecutor Coreen Mao declared at the court session. She stated that no public official should live in fear of being killed at any moment for doing their job.

Roske's lawyers had requested Judge Boardman to impose a term of no more than 96 months, noting that she had contacted emergency services to turn herself in and had worked with the law enforcement. Roske should be sentenced "based on her actions, not for what she believed," they contended.

Broader Context of Ideologically Motivated Attacks

The sentencing occurs amid signs of increasing ideologically driven attacks in the US, including two tries to kill of Donald Trump during his presidential campaign last year, and the killing last month of conservative figure Charlie Kirk at a university in Utah.

Threats against US judiciary members have more than doubled since 2021, according to official statistics analyzed by Reuters last year. Some jurists who have ruled against Trump administration directives have encountered intimidation and targeting along with their families, as reported in a Reuters investigation.