Texas Judge Urges Legal Peers to Speak Out Against Intimidation

A small but growing chorus of sitting US judges are taking the unusual step of speaking out against attacks on the legal profession by President Donald Trump and his allies – and encouraging others to do the same.

“It’s lonely out here,” US District Judge Fred Biery said in an interview. The 31-year veteran of the federal bench in western Texas recently gave a speech denouncing efforts to “intimidate judges and physical threats” and criticizing administration actions against law firms and lawyers.

Biery and his colleagues, including appellate court judges in Washington and in California, aren’t household names. But their ...