On September 19, Townhall told you how Nicholas John Roske, the man who pleaded guilty to attempting to assassinate Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, began "identifying" as a woman named Sophia Roske. This news broke as the DOJ finally handed down sentencing recommendations for Roske. They requested he be sentenced to 30 years behind bars.
Roske was arrested after he traveled from California to Kavanaugh's residence and was found in possession of a Glock pistol with two magazines, a knife, pepper spray, and zip ties. In 2022, he claimed mental illness drove him to commit those crimes.
It appears his assertion of mental illness and his sudden trans identity worked.
Roske was sentenced to eight years today.
BREAKING: Nicholas Roske, who now goes by Sophie, has been sentenced to eight years in prison for attempting to murder Justice Brett Kavanaugh. pic.twitter.com/O9maO0dIKV
— Fox News (@FoxNews) October 3, 2025
But here's the buried lede: the judge in the case, Biden-appointee Deborah Boardman, did this in part because Roske now identifies as a woman. Here's Fox News:
During the hearing, Boardman referred to Roske as a transgender woman, and Roske's attorneys told the court recently that while their client's legal name is Nicholas, Roske goes by the name Sophie and uses female pronouns.
Boardman, a Biden appointee, said she factored into the sentence her concern about Trump's executive order requiring transgender inmates to be detained in prisons that correspond to their sex at birth.
Roske pleaded guilty in April to one charge of attempting to murder a Supreme Court justice, which carries a maximum sentence of life in prison.
Boardman had a previous ruling overturned by the Supreme Court and Justice Kavanaugh wrote the majority opinion:
This is the judge who ruled against parents in 2023 who wanted to be able to opt their kids out of LGBT curriculum.
— Chuck Ross (@ChuckRossDC) October 3, 2025
The Supreme Court struck down her ruling (Kavanaugh was in the majority) https://t.co/f8pW34ehlc
But it gets even worse. Boardman's sentence includes a lifetime of court supervision, and she said, "I am heartened that this terrible infraction has helped the Roske family...accept their daughter for who she is."
Holy crap. How is this real? Tell me how this is real. pic.twitter.com/ed55rHt7FE
— Bonchie (@bonchieredstate) October 3, 2025
The silver lining in this is Roske will not be sent to a women's prison, regardless of his gender identity, thanks to President Trump.