Chief Justice John Roberts arrives before President Joe Biden delivers the State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress at the Capitol, Thursday, March 7, 2024, in Washington. (Shawn Thew/Pool via AP).
A former programmer for Google in Fernandina Beach, Florida, was sentenced to 14 months in federal prison Tuesday for leaving a profane voicemail with the U.S. Supreme Court in which he threatened to kill Chief Justice John Roberts.
According to court documents, Neal Brij Sidhwaney, 43, placed a telephone call from Florida to the high court on July 31, 2023 in which he said the following:
Yeah hi, my name is Neal Sidhwaney, uh, this message is for [Justice Roberts] … I will f—— kill you … Go f—— tell the Deputy U.S. Marshals you f—— p—-. I will f—— talk to them and then I’ll f—— come kill you anyways, you f—— c—.
Roberts was not named in the indictment, but was named in a psychological evaluation submitted in the case as part of the court proceedings.
The case was then investigated by the Supreme Court police and the U.S. Capitol Police and Sidhwaney was indicted on a charge of violating 18 U.S.C.§ 875, which prohibits the interstate transmission of threats.
In September 2023, U.S. Magistrate Judge Monte C. Richardson found after a hearing that Sidhwaney was competent to stand trial. Alan Harris, a Jacksonville psychologist, submitted an evaluation to the court that concluded Sidhwaney could understand the proceedings against him, but likely suffered from a delusional disorder and related paranoia.
Harris said in the report that according to Sidhwaney’s mother, Sidhwaney would become “enraged” after watching the news, then take to writing letters or making phone calls. The report also noted that Sidhwaney believed Google had implanted a chip into his hand and foot.
Sidhwaney pleaded guilty to the charges against him in January 2024.
Prior to the justices taking their summer recess in 2023, calls for the Supreme Court to install an enforceable code of ethics came to something of a peak. The following November, all nine justices signed on to a code of ethics that was widely criticized for not containing any enforcement mechanism.
In late June 2023, the Court handed down a number of controversial decisions, including one eradicating affirmative action admissions programs in U.S. universities, one siding with a Christian postal worker who refused to deliver packages on Sundays, another striking down President Joe Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan, and one allowing a Christian web designer to refuse to provide services to same-sex couples.
U.S. District Judge Marcia Morales Howard, a George W. Bush appointee, presided over Sidhwaney’s sentencing Tuesday. Sidhwaney faced up to five years in prison for his crime.
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