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Threats Against Federal Judges Jump Drastically AOL News In a sick twist of fate, a
federal court officer was shot and killed and a U.S. marshal was
wounded in Las Vegas this morning around the same time the
Department of Justice released
a report saying that threats
against federal judges, U.S. attorneys and U.S. assistant attorneys
have more than doubled since 2003. After
Murders of Husband and Mother By Mike Robinson "I've gone over in my mind so many times what could have been done differently," U.S. District Judge Joan Humphrey Lefkow said during an American Bar Association panel in Chicago on how judges can keep themselves and their families safe. Lefkow came home the evening of Feb. 28, 2005, to find her husband, Michael Lefkow, 64, and her mother, Donna Humphrey, 89, shot to death in the basement. Bart Ross, an electrician whose medical malpractice suit had been dismissed by Lefkow, killed himself two weeks later and left a note confessing to the crime. DNA evidence and spent shells confirmed Ross was the killer. Lefkow said she was surprised to hear from an expert from the U.S. Marshals Service that a home security system could cost as little as $100. She said she and her husband had looked into buying a system but understood it would cost several thousand dollars. "We just didn't do it," she said. She said judges must make up their minds that "for the sake of my family, for the sake of myself, I just have to do it." Lefkow said she now lives in a high-rise building with 24-hour security. Before Ross' suicide, the most publicized focus of the investigation into the killings was white supremacist leader Matthew Hale. He is now serving a 40-year sentence for soliciting Lefkow's murder after she ruled against him in a trademark dispute. More recently, a New Jersey blogger was charged with threatening to assault or murder Lefkow and two other Chicago-based federal judges who refused to overturn handgun bans. According to a federal complaint, Harold "Hal" Turner's blog entry referenced the Lefkow slayings. "Apparently, the 7th U.S. Circuit court didn't get the hint after those killings. It appears another lesson is needed," Turner wrote, according to prosecutors. Judge in
Gunfire Case Is an By Alan Feuer
Fernando M. Camacho’s career is just that: vintage New York law-enforcement stuff. He started as a young assistant in the office of Robert M. Morgenthau, the Manhattan district attorney, and was soon knee-deep in drug crews: gangs with names like the Jheri Curls, the Wild Cowboys, the Young Talented Children. His success in the courtroom led to his Fernando Fernando M. Camacho appointment to the bench, and ever since, he has climbed the legal ladder, passing through the criminal courts of two boroughs and ending up an as acting State Supreme Court justice at the behemoth county courthouse in Queens. But any air of the typical or traditional was swept aside on Tuesday when an unknown gunman pumped four bullets into Justice Camacho’s home in Queens. One slug landed in his kitchen, another lodged in a bedroom wall. No one was home at the time. His friends and colleagues said it was unthinkable that such a man as this — fair, smart, even-tempered — should be the victim of an attack. "The overview of Camacho," said Daniel J. Ollen, a private-practice lawyer who worked with him at the district attorney’s office, "is he’s salt of the earth, a great guy, beloved by both sides. He’s got to be the fairest judge in Queens — by far, by a mile. So when I heard it was him I was stunned." For the moment, investigators are working on a theory that the attack resulted from a dispute between neighbors, a law enforcement official said, and that the judge’s house in Oakland Gardens may, in fact, have been shot by mistake. They added that the judge, when asked to name anyone from his past who might wish him harm, mentioned a drug dealer he sent to prison nearly 15 years ago, but that man is not a suspect in the case. Justice Camacho declined requests for an interview. But a telling story of his fierceness on the job appears in Michael Stone’s "Gangbusters," a true-crime book on how the Homicide Investigation Unit of the district attorney’s office took down the Jheri Curls (known for their shaved temples and slick curled hair on top) and other gangs in a series of high-profile prosecutions in the early 1990s. Mr. Stone quotes Walter Arsenault, then the chief of the unit, reminiscing on his former colleague’s profound desire to clean the scourge of crack cocaine from Washington Heights. "Camacho had this idea of taking back the Heights block by block," Mr. Arsenault said, according to the book, "just marching up Audubon and Broadway and taking down every gang along the way. The precinct detectives all said he was crazy, that there were too many crews, that they weren’t organized in a way that you could take them down together. But privately I agreed with him. We were sending a message: If you killed people in Manhattan, we were coming after you, and we were the biggest, toughest gang around." The homicide unit was at that time focused on the city’s war on drugs, a team of seasoned prosecutors with a mandate to attack crack gangs at the moment of their bloodiest violence. Originally formed as a cold-case murder squad, the unit’s mission switched somewhat, said Ellen Corcella, a former member, and began to develop drug cases to obtain leverage against gangsters and eventually win their help in solving murders. Justice Camacho, a Spanish speaker, had particular expertise in Dominican gangs, said Ms. Corcella, now in private practice in Indiana. "I always thought that Fernando was terrific," she added. "He had a very good head on his shoulders and was a quick learner." After studying law at Fordham University, and spending three years at the Wall Street law firm Balsam Felber & Goldfield and more than a decade at the district attorney’s office, where he met his wife, Andrea, Justice Camacho was appointed to the bench in 1997 by Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani. He spent four years in Brooklyn Criminal Court, then moved on to a similar post in Queens. He has served as a presiding judge of the Domestic Violence Court in Queens and as a deputy supervising judge of the Queens Criminal Court. In May, the State Senate confirmed his nomination to the State Court of Claims, which is the forum for civil litigation seeking damages against the State of New York. Mark I. Cohen, a lawyer who met Justice Camacho in the early 1990s, said the judge never fell prey to prosecutorial zealotry and was "not a guy with single-minded blinders on, over the top, trying to send someone away for 20 years." "The way to describe him is, he’s completely even-tempered and completely decent," Mr. Cohen said. "He’s what you’d call a true public — and I underline ‘public’— servant." Al Baker contributed reporting. Threats Against Judges Increase Martha Bellisle Death threats against the region's judges and judicial officers recently jumped dramatically, prompting Washoe District Court and sheriff's officials to work on a new protocol to respond to any potential attacks, Chief Judge Connie Steinheimer said Tuesday. "We're seeing an increase in threats against all judges," Steinheimer said. "Since the first of the year, there have been six threats against six separate judicial officers -- some were multiple contacts or attempted contacts." Steinheimer would not reveal which judges had received the threats. Judge Janet Berry said the threats are unnerving. "We're just doing our job," Berry said. "We have no clue that somebody's psychotic with rage and wants us dead." Some threats were written, others came over the telephone, through third parties or during conversations with law enforcement agencies, Steinheimer said. "There were many different sources, a mixed group of threats," she said. The increase is happening all across the country, not just in Washoe County, she added. Steinheimer and Sheriff Mike Haley are developing a "global response" plan that all people and agencies will use when a threat comes in, she said. "That way, if a threat comes in to the Sparks Police Department at 10 o'clock on a Saturday night, everyone will know how to deal with it," Steinheimer said. The June 2006 sniper-style shooting of Family Court Judge Chuck Weller by Darren Mack, drew national attention to the vulnerability of judicial officers and courthouses across the country. In response, local courthouses implemented a number of safety measures to ensure a safe environment. During Mack's sentencing hearing last week, Weller said he had received a number of threats, including one just after Christmas, and five other judges have had similar experiences. Steinheimer said the threats included judges, court masters and the probate commissioner. "Sometimes, people think that because of what happened to Judge Weller, and because the family court can be so volatile, that it's a family court problem," Steinheimer said. "It isn't. It's in all courts. They come after anyone they see as a part of the institution of the rule of law." And it's not just in Washoe County, Berry said. At the end of January, law enforcement in Las Vegas thwarted a plan by a Clark County inmate who offered to pay a fellow inmate $30,000 to kill District Judge Michelle Leavitt, Deputy District Attorney Sandra DiGiacomo and the detective on his case. An informant at the Clark County jail helped disclose 42-year-old Daimon Hoyt's alleged plan. Hoyt was being held on burglary charges. Reader Comment Thu Feb 14, 2008 8:18 am It seems very unfair to me
to be bashing the judges that administer the laws as written by the
legislators. If the laws are unfair contact Carson City, don't hate
the judges for doing their jobs! rule of law(yers) , not of men Thu
Feb 14, 2008 7:08 am It is shortsighted to work on action plans in
case of attack rather than addressing why there is so much anger at
the judiciary. Our pompous and all powerful judges refuse to admit
there could be problems with their "good ol boy' system. They
consider themselves infallable. They resist every attempt at
accountability. We urge the judiciary to look at itself and it's
relationship with the community instead of wasting tax payer dollars
on a "global response plan". Citizens need to read the biannual bar
survey rating the judges and get rid of the 'bums'. Thu Feb 14, 2008 7:07 am It is shortsighted to work on action plans in case of attack rather than addressing why there is so much anger at the judiciary. Our pompous and all powerful judges refuse to admit there could be problems with their "good ol boy' system. They consider themselves infallable. They resist every attempt at accountability. We urge the judiciary to look at itself and it's relationship with the community instead of wasting tax payer dollars on a "global response plan". Citizens need to read the biannual bar survey rating the judges and get rid of the 'bums'.
US Marshals Not Doing Enough to Protect Federal Judges By Hope Yen Threats of harm to federal judges that aren't reviewed for days. Investigations into suspicious behavior at courthouses that are sloppily done. Lack of money to identify and prevent acts of violence in and outside work. Three years after it was warned by the Justice Department's inspector general to improve security, the U.S. Marshals Service is languishing in its efforts to protect the nation's 2,200 federal judges, according to a new report. That is putting federal judges in danger even as threats against them have almost doubled in the past five years."The USMS must exhibit a greater sense of urgency in improving its capability to assess reported threats against the judiciary, creating and sharing protective intelligence on potential threats, and completing the implementation of enhanced security measures," states the 112-page study released Wednesday by Justice IG Glenn Fine. Fine's latest review raises questions of proper use of resources in safeguarding judges, an issue that probably will be examined at the Senate confirmation hearings of Attorney General-designate Michael Mukasey. As a federal judge in the 1990s, Mukasey was given bodyguards at a cost of at least $28 million, even as department officials argued about how much of a threat he really faced. The report credits the U.S. Marshals for some improvements following a spike in acts of violence and reports of threats in 2005 and 2006. Among the improvements were installation of alarms at judges' homes. Most judges were described in the report as somewhat satisfied with that added level of protection. But investigators found that as recently as October 2006, the U.S. Marshals' overall security efforts had diminished, with a backlog of 1,190 cases of reported threats to review. About two-thirds of the cases reviewed in 2005 and 2006 were not assessed within three days to seven days of a reported threat. Even when threats were reviewed, the cases were not examined fully enough, leaving judges at risk, investigators said. A special office created by the agency in 2004 to identify potential threats against judges, federal prosecutors and court staff has floundered because staff and other resources were diverted to investigate reported threats. "Given the importance of the issue of judicial protection, and the threats to federal judges in the past, we believe that the Marshals Service should move quickly to implement its plans to improve the protection of the federal judiciary," Fine said. The Marshals Service said in a statement Wednesday it appreciated the report and noted there was "no greater sense of urgency in our agency than ensuring the security of the judiciary." The agency said it would take additional steps to improve protection and seek more money for security. The report listed Nevada as having 227 threats to federal judges and other court officials, more than any other federal judicial district. In interviews, Nevada court officials blamed the high numbers on an increase in telephone, e-mail and Internet Web blog threats during a series of tax protester trials in Las Vegas in 2005 and 2006. Ordinarily, judges and other court officials average fewer than 40 threats per year, they said. Judicial security received national attention in early 2005 after an unemployed electrician broke into the home of U.S. District Judge Joan Lefkow in Chicago and fatally shot her husband and mother. In the aftermath of the Lefkow deaths, judges criticized the Marshals Service -- then led by Benigno Reyna -- as insufficiently responsive to their security. An inspector general's report a year earlier had highlighted shortcomings in how marshals assess threats. Reyna resigned in July 2005. In a 2006 survey conducted by the inspector general and released Wednesday, about 87 percent of the 2,141 judges who responded said they were now either very satisfied or somewhat satisfied with the Marshals' performance. About two-thirds of the judges overall acknowledged receiving a threat at least once during their career. According to the survey, many judges cited a greater need for marshals to improve intelligence collection and identify potential threats. They explained that unknown general dangers associated with their job -- particularly among those who hear gang, terrorism and organized crime cases -- were greater than specific threats reported against them. In the case of Mukasey, The Associated Press reported last month that the attorney general nominee had been assigned a security team of deputy marshals while he presided as a federal judge over a high-profile terror trial in the early 1990s in Manhattan. He kept the protections, code-named "Eagle Detail," until 2005 -- nine years after the trial ended -- at a cost of about $10,000 a day. The detail was withdrawn shortly after deputy marshals protecting Mukasey and U.S. District Judge Kevin T. Duffy filed a grievance accusing the two jurists and their wives of assigning them valet-like chores. The Marshals Service assigns security details to about 250 judges and other court officers annually. The agency has said most of the money was used to pay salaries and benefits for Mukasey's security detail and would have been spent whether they were assigned to protect the judge or someone else. The cost of protecting at least one other judge in the same Manhattan courthouse fell far short of what the government spent to protect Mukasey, according to an AP review of financial records. More
Judges Packing Pistols in Courtrooms Amanda Bronstad Despite increased security at courthouses following shootings in Chicago and Atlanta about one year ago, many judges are bringing their own guns into their courtrooms for protection. Earlier this month, a Florida judge was ordered to accept mentoring after warning a defense attorney that he was "locked and loaded." In May, a judicial ethics committee of the New York State Unified Court System found that it was ethical for a judge to carry a pistol into his courtroom. In Nevada, Oklahoma and Texas, incidences of violence in the past year have prompted new laws or solidified rules allowing judges to bring guns into courtrooms. "Judges in our courthouse have been carrying guns almost all the time," said Cynthia Stevens Kent, a Texas judge in the 114th District Court, where a man in a family law case killed his ex-wife and son last year on the steps of a Tyler courthouse. "We feel strongly about providing adequate security, but it comes down to personal responsibility. And you've got to take responsibility for your own safety," Kent said. Security concerns were raised last year after a rape suspect grabbed a deputy's gun and killed an Atlanta judge and others. One month earlier, a litigant had killed the husband and mother of a Chicago federal judge who ruled against him. Covering the Doorway Some states allow judges to arm themselves. In June, a man shot the Nevada judge overseeing his divorce case through the window of his courtroom. Chuck Weller, a judge in the Nevada 2nd Judicial District Court in Reno, who survived the incident, said that judges in Nevada are allowed to carry weapons into the courtroom if they obtain permission from the chief judge. He declined to say whether he keeps a gun in his courtroom, but noted, "I'm not opposed to it at all. The culture in the community I live accepts firearms." The shooting prompted U.S. Senator Harry Reid, D-Nev., to introduce legislation to enhance security at both state and federal courthouses. In another recent incident, Oklahoma District Judge P. Thomas Thornbrugh said he grabbed his gun from his chambers after he heard a loud slam against the wall and shouts for help. He said he knew deputies were taking a prisoner to a nearby bathroom. "I thought the deputies were being overcome by this prisoner, and their service weapons would be taken," said Thornbrugh, recalling the Atlanta incident. "There were no other deputies around, so I got a pistol out of my desk and covered the doorway until the other deputies arrived." The scuffle prompted the Oklahoma House of Representatives to pass a bill in March that would allow district judges to have guns in the courthouse. Current law is unclear. The bill died before reaching the state Senate, but state Rep. Dan Sullivan, R-Tulsa, who introduced the bill, said he plans to try again next year. In Texas, which permits state judges to carry concealed handguns into courtrooms, a new law became effective that expands that right to include federal judges and district attorneys. The law followed the Tyler shooting. "We believe each judge should be able to make sure he has a system of self-defense," said Kent, who wears a shoulder harness and carries a gun at all times. "One of our biggest areas of target is when we're in the court making decisions." Fighting Gun Bans In May, New York's Advisory Committee on Judicial Ethics issued an opinion that found it ethical for a judge to carry a pistol while on the bench. In Florida, where Bay County Judge Michael Hauversburk recently threatened a defense attorney with his handgun, state law permits concealed weapons. But a bill that died last year would have specifically allowed judges to bring concealed firearms into courtrooms. Similar bills were introduced and failed last year in North Carolina and Illinois. On Jan. 1, Kansas plans to permit judges and whomever they designate to carry concealed firearms in the courtroom. Phillip Journey, the state senator who authored the bill and a practicing attorney, said he spent a decade seeking to overturn a blanket prohibition on firearms in the courthouse. "If I had a judge's permission, I'd do it every day," he said of bringing a gun into the courtroom. "Guns are like lawyers: Better to have one and not need it than need one and not have it." Government Acts on Rising Threats Against Judges By Mary Alice Robbins With threats against federal judges and other court employees on the rise, Congress is focusing on how to provide better protection for the judiciary. U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, has filed a bill that would toughen mandatory minimum penalties for violent crimes against federal judges or law enforcement officers. Filed on Aug. 4, the Court and Law Enforcement Protection Act of 2006 — S. 3835 — also includes a provision to impose mandatory penalties for violent acts carried out against a family member of a federal judge or law enforcement officer with the intent to retaliate against the judge or officer for any act related to his or her performance of official duties. To provide the federal judiciary more security on the home front, the U.S. Marshals Service is overseeing the installation of security systems in the homes of judges who want to participate in the federally-funded program. The Marshals Service is the federal agency responsible for protecting federal judges. David Turner, a spokesman for the Marshals Service, says Congress appropriated about $5 million to the Marshals Service last year through the 2005 Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act for Defense, the Global War on Terror and Tsunami Relief to pay for alarm systems designed to detect home intrusions. "This is the largest residential alarm system in the country," Turner says. The Marshals Service had asked Congress to allocate funding to provide home security systems for the federal judiciary after an intruder broke into the Chicago home of U.S. District Judge Joan Lefkow of the Northern District of Illinois and murdered the judge's husband and mother on March 1, 2005. The murders of Lefkow's family members came during a record-setting year for threats against those in the federal courts system. Dave Sacks, another Marshals Service spokesman, says federal marshals investigated 943 threats and inappropriate communications against federal judges and other court employees during the last fiscal year, which ended Sept. 30, 2005. Figures provided by Sacks show the number of threats and inappropriate communications increased almost every year since fiscal year 2001, when the Marshals Service investigated 640 such incidents. The current fiscal year could break last year's record. By July, the Marshals Service had 822 reports of threats and inappropriate communications, Sacks says. "Not all of these threaten the lives of judges," Sacks says, adding that some communications may be very minor. While a threat typically includes a reference to harm, a weapon or a violent act, Sacks says that an inappropriate communication can be "anything that oversteps the bounds of professional decorum to a judicial official." Cornyn, a former justice on the Texas Supreme Court and Texas' former attorney general, says in a statement that his bill takes steps toward providing additional protections for judges and law enforcement officials. "We must do all that we can to provide adequate security to these dedicated men and women who are too often targeted for violence or harassment simply because of the position they hold," Cornyn says. According to an analysis provided by Cornyn's Senate office, the bill would set a minimum prison term of 30 years to life for the murder, attempted murder, conspiracy to murder or kidnapping of a federal judge or federal law enforcement officer. Under the bill, the death penalty could be imposed when death results from the offense. The bill would set the same penalties for a retaliatory offense against a family member of a federal judge or federal law enforcement officer. David Sellers, spokesman for the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, says the Judicial Conference of the U.S. Courts hasn't had an opportunity to review Cornyn's bill. But Sellers says, "Events of the past year vividly portray the importance of protecting federal judges and courthouses, and we appreciate the congressional attention this need has received." U.S. District Judge Rob Junell of Midland says he applauds Cornyn for filing the bill. "I'm for anything that would prevent injury or death not only to ordinary citizens but to people in high-profile positions, such as judges," Junell says. Action on the bill isn't likely to come for some time. Congress is in recess and will not return to work until Sept. 3. Meanwhile, the Marshals Service is continuing with the installation of security systems in federal judges' homes. Mike Brumbaugh, the Marshals Service's program manager for residential systems, says 72 percent — about 1,600 — of the approximately 2,200 federal judges have expressed an interest in participating in the program. Citing security concerns, Brumbaugh declines to say how many federal judges in Texas have indicated they want to participate in the program. "But Texas is on track with the rest of the country," Turner says. "We expect that by Sept. 1 we are going to see in Texas the same success that we're going to experience in Rhode Island or Indiana or anywhere else." Brumbaugh says the Marshals Service plans to complete installation of the home security systems by Sept. 30. New Program The judges who signed up for the federally funded home security systems or monitoring for their existing systems could be taxed for that service, however. The Marshals Service asked the U.S. Department of Justice Tax Division to determine whether the judges will have to pay taxes for that benefit. U.S. District Judge A. Joe Fish of Dallas, chief judge of the Northern District of Texas, says he won't be surprised if the DOJ determines that the home security service is taxable. "It's kind of an in-kind service," Fish says. U.S. District Judge Richard Schell of Sherman says he had a contract with a home security company but decided to switch to the federal government's contractor, ADT Security Services. "I would not be a happy camper if it were [taxable]," Schell says of the service. Tax attorney William R. "Bill" McIlhany, a partner in Jackson Walker in Austin, says that providing a home security system to a judge is, in a sense, like giving the judge a raise. A judge who has been paying out of his own pocket to provide a security system for his home now can get a system paid for by the federal government. The general rule for what is taxable income is the "accession to wealth not excluded by law," McIlhany says. McIlhany says that unless Congress excludes the security systems — and he is not aware of any exception for the systems — the judges probably will have to pay taxes on them. "I think it will take some kind of congressional carve-out to recognize that this is not taxable," he says. U.S. District Judge Thad Heartfield of Beaumont, chief judge of the Eastern District, isn't too concerned about the possibility that he'll be taxed for the home security service. "My feeling about that is if we're taxed, that's just how it is," Heartfield says. But he adds, "It's kind of like being taxed for having a marshal standing next to you." However, Heartfield says that having a home security system makes him feel more secure. "I see that red light [and] it almost puts me to sleep," he says. Heartfield says he worries about prisoners who are unhappy because federal sentencing guidelines require them to spend long years in prison. "They've got nothing to lose," he says. But three judges interviewed by Texas Lawyer say they did not sign up for the federally funded program. "I already have a security system at my home," says U.S. District Judge Vanessa Gilmore of Houston. Gilmore says she had a security system installed in her home in the mid-1980s after someone broke in when she was in the house. Although the intruder did not try to harm her, Gilmore says, police questioned why she did not have an alarm system. "I put a security system in my house; I've had one ever since," she says. While she did not sign up for the new program being provided to the federal judiciary, Gilmore says that ADT reviewed her system and recommended ways to update it. "Things had gotten obsolete on my system," Gilmore says. Fish says he's not participating in the ADT-monitored system because he recently signed a three-year contract with another home security company. "I'll just watch to see how the federal program goes," he says. U.S. District Judge David Folsom of Texarkana says he hasn't taken advantage of the federally funded program. "I have a wonderful outside dog and a wonderful inside dog," Folsom says. "I think the best security system is a good barking dog." U.S. District Judge Sam Sparks of Austin says the Marshals Service and ADT conducted an inventory of his home security system and he decided to switch to ADT's monitoring service. Sparks says most federal judges have home security surveillance because "we get threats all the time." U.S. marshals even provided security when he and his wife married in 1995 because he had received a threat, Sparks says. Notes Sparks, "The marshals spent the night with us."
Threats Up Against Federal Judges
Security at federal courthouses has been boosted in
recent "It seems
like every few months The Marshals Service, charged with protecting federal judges, prosecutors, jurors and other court employees, has tripled its number of threat investigators and analysts from eight to 25 to respond to the threats, says Donald Horton, chief inspector for the marshals' Office of Protective Intelligence. A 24-hour threat analysis and intelligence center with new technology becomes fully operational in October, Clark says. "We're striving for faster, real-time analysis," he says. "All threats can be evaluated within a 24-hour period if not instantly," Horton says. He attributes the increase in threats to more litigation, more aggressive communication from people with complaints against judges, easier access to judges' information and improved reporting of threats. Recent high-profile shootings have drawn national attention to judicial security and underscored weaknesses in judicial protection. In February 2005, a man with a history of threatening letters and angry court filings broke into U.S. District Judge Joan Lefkow's house in Chicago and killed her husband and mother. The man killed himself nine days later during a traffic stop in Wisconsin. A year before the killings, a U.S. Justice Department inspector general's report criticized the marshals' threat assessment process as "untimely and of questionable validity." The inspector general found that the marshals failed to meet their own time standards in more than 73% of the threat assessment cases.Congress responded to the Lefkow murders by approving nearly $12 million to install security systems at judges' homes. Congress also is considering other security proposals, including tougher criminal penalties for people convicted of threatening judges. State judges, who are not under the marshals' protection, also are vulnerable. In June, Washoe, Nev., family court Judge Chuck Weller was shot in court chambers. Supreme Court Justice Reveals Death Threats By Gina Holland WASHINGTON - Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said she and former Justice Sandra Day O'Connor have been the targets of death threats from the "irrational fringe" of society, people apparently spurred by Republican criticism of the high court. Ginsburg revealed in a speech in South Africa last month that she and O'Connor were threatened a year ago by someone who called on the Internet for the immediate "patriotic" killing of the justices. Security concerns among judges have been growing. Conservative commentator Ann Coulter joked earlier this year that Justice John Paul Stevens should be poisoned. Over the past few months O'Connor has complained that criticism, mainly by Republicans, has threatened judicial independence to deal with difficult issues like gay marriage. Worry is not limited to the Supreme Court. Three quarters of the nation's 2,200 federal judges have asked for government-paid home security systems, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said this week. Ginsburg said the Web threat was apparently prompted by legislation in Congress, filed by Republicans, that would bar judges from relying on foreign laws or court decisions. "It is disquieting that they have attracted sizable support. And one not-so-small concern - they fuel the irrational fringe," she said in a speech posted online by the court earlier this month and first reported Wednesday by LegalTimes.com. According to Ginsburg, someone in a Web site chat room wrote: "Okay commandoes, here is your first patriotic assignment ... an easy one. Supreme Court Justices Ginsburg and O'Connor have publicly stated that they use (foreign) laws and rulings to decide how to rule on American cases. This is a huge threat to our Republic and Constitutional freedom. ... If you are what you say you are, and NOT armchair patriots, then those two justices will not live another week." Rep. Tom Feeney, R-Fla., a sponsor of one of the congressional proposals, wrote about the legislation on his Web site and in bold letters featured a quote from O'Connor predicting the Supreme Court would probably increasingly rely on foreign courts. Ginsburg pointed out that the legislation was first proposed in 2004, an election year. Justices, in some of their most hotly contested rulings, have looked overseas. Last year, for example, justices barred the executions of juvenile killers on a 5-4 vote. Justice Anthony M. Kennedy said then that "it is proper that we acknowledge the overwhelming weight of international opinion against the juvenile death penalty." In an angry dissent to that decision, Justice Antonin Scalia said capital punishment policy should be set by states, not "the subjective views of five members of this court and like-minded foreigners." Ginsburg said, "Critics in Congress and in the media misperceive how and why U.S. courts refer to foreign and international court decisions." She said those decisions are used for guidance only. O'Connor said last week during a speech at Georgetown Law School that the justices have received threats. But the Ginsburg remarks at the Constitutional Court of South Africa provide unusual detail. Jittery Judges Get 12m for Security Associated Press WASHINGTON - Three-quarters of the nation's 2,200 federal judges asked for government-paid home security systems after the murders of the husband and mother of a federal judge in Chicago, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said yesterday. Congress approved $12 million for home security after an unemployed electrician broke into the home of U.S. District Judge Joan Lefkow last year and shot her husband and mother to death. Gonzales, speaking to lawmakers on Capitol Hill, said 1,600 to 1,700 active and semiretired judges and magistrates expressed interest in the systems. Meanwhile, the judges called yesterday for better training for judicial security officers and screening of inmate mail. The Judicial Conference of the United States, the policymaking board for federal courts, met for the first time under its new leader, Chief Justice John Roberts. The judges also approved measures authorizing security equipment and staff for federal probation offices and pretrial services offices. "The judges, after the disasters of last year and the terrorism problems we have today, are seriously concerned about security," U.S. District Judge Thomas F. Hogan told reporters. Judge Returns to Bench After Murders of Husband, Mother By The Associated Press CHICAGO -- A federal judge has made a low-key return to the bench, just months after the murders of her husband and mother by a disgruntled litigant. U.S. District Judge Joan Humphrey Lefkow had vowed she would continue working despite the Feb. 28 shootings at her Chicago home, committed by a man upset with her decision to dismiss his medical malpractice lawsuit. Bart Ross, an unemployed Chicago electrician, confessed to the murders in a suicide note. Lefkow appeared relaxed in court where she presided over several routine civil cases Tuesday. She plans to work on a limited basis over the next several months before returning full time in the fall, said U.S. District Chief Judge Charles Kocoras. A notice posted on the door of her courtroom thanked people for their sympathy and asked them to refrain from mentioning the deaths during court proceedings. "She didn't want a lot of fanfare," said Michael Dooley, Lefkow's deputy. "She appreciates everyone's concern, but in the courtroom she wants to stick to business." In May, Lefkow testified at a congressional hearing about judicial security, asking lawmakers to "publicly and persistently repudiate gratuitous attacks on the judiciary." She also called on Congress to increase funding for the U.S. Marshals Service and to consider legislation to ban putting personal information about judges and other government officials on the Internet without their permission. Lefkow has been under 24-hour protection from the Marshals Service since the slayings. Three marshals stood by the courtroom entrances Tuesday. Lefkow discovered the bodies of her husband and mother in the basement of the couple's home. Suspicion immediately turned to a white supremacist who had been convicted of soliciting Lefkow's murder, but police found Ross' note soon after he shot himself to death in Wisconsin in early March. Senate Urged
to Condemn Jurist Disrespect By Jesse J. Holland
Judge Joan Lefkow appears before a
''Fostering disrespect
for judges can only Her husband and mother were slain in the couple's Chicago home in February. Bart Ross, a 57-year-old unemployed electrician from Chicago, committed suicide in suburban Milwaukee in March after leaving a note confessing to the murders. He had been angered when Lefkow dismissed a malpractice suit he had filed, authorities said. The judge also was the target of a murder plot by white supremacist Matthew Hale. A federal jury convicted Hale in April 2004 of soliciting her murder, and he was sentenced last month to 40 years in prison. She was never attacked. Congress should ''publicly and persistently repudiate gratuitous attacks on the judiciary'' that have occurred in the days since after the Terri Schiavo case, Lefkow told the hearing on courthouse security. After the death of Schiavo, a brain-damaged Florida woman whose parents unsuccessfully sought to have her feeding tube reinserted despite her husband's wishes, some Republican members of Congress lashed out at judges involved in the case. At the time, Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania said, ''The actions on the part of the Florida court and the U.S. Supreme Court are unconscionable.'' ''This loss happened because our legal system did not protect the people who need protection most, and that will change,'' House Majority Leader Tom DeLay said. ''The time will come for the men responsible for this to answer for their behavior.'' Referring to a different decision, Sen. John Cornyn of Texas said he wondered whether frustration against perceived political decisions by judges ''builds up and builds up to the point where some people engage in violence, certainly without any justification.'' Robertson, founder of the Christian Coalition and head of the Christian Broadcasting Network, appeared on ABC's ''This Week'' earlier this month and criticized the federal courts. ''Over 100 years, I think the gradual erosion of the consensus that's held our country together is probably more serious than a few bearded terrorists who fly into buildings,'' he said. Lefkow said that kind of ''harsh rhetoric is truly dangerous.'' ''I have never encountered a judge in the federal judiciary who can remotely be described as posing a threat, as Mr. Robertson said, 'probably more serious than a few bearded terrorists who fly into buildings,''' she said. Lefkow called on Congress to increase funding for the U.S. Marshals Service, which protects judges. She also wants legislation to ban putting personal information about judges and other government officials on the Internet without their permission. Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter, R-Pa., focused on the importance of judges being willing to request protection when needed. He asked Lefkow why she didn't request protection after the white supremacist group threatened her life several years ago. Lefkow said she lacked the expertise to properly assess the threat and that, to her knowledge, no system was in place to properly assess and protect her safety. Congress should make sure that money that has been allocated for home security systems for federal judges gets to them as fast as possible, she said. Congress has approved $12 million to install home security systems for the 2,200 active and semiretired judges and magistrates in the federal court system. ''As recently as last Friday, which was May 13, I was spotted and harassed in a restaurant in downtown Chicago,'' Lefkow said. ''Had that harasser come back rather than left a nasty sign and had a gun, then obviously I wouldn't be here today.''
Courts Seek More Protections for Judges WASHINGTON -- Worried after recent attacks, federal judges on Wednesday urged Congress to provide more protection, including $12 million for security systems in most of their homes. "Unfortunately, at the present time federal judges across the country are feeling particularly vulnerable, not only for themselves, but also for their families," said a letter from the Judicial Conference of the United States, the court's policy-making board led by Chief Justice William Rehnquist. The request follows the murder in February of a federal judge's family in Chicago, the courtroom shooting deaths in Atlanta in March and emotional comments from some critics after judges refused to order the reinsertion of Terri Schiavo's feeding tube. Democrats said Congress should approve the judges' request. "It's ironic that judges who are guardians of our rights are subject to violence, and we ought to do everything we can to protect them," said Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y. "This is a reasonable request that I hope every senator will be for." Republicans have been criticized for some of their statements about the federal courts after the Schiavo decision. "The time will come for the men responsible for this to answer for their behavior," said House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, raising the prospect of impeachment. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said this week he wonders if frustration against perceived political decisions by judges "builds up and builds up to the point where some people engage in violence, certainly without any justification." Cornyn later said his remarks had nothing to do with the Schiavo case or with what DeLay said. "There is no possible justification for courthouse violence," the senator said. The judges' letter to President Bush and Congress, which sets the federal court's budget, was written by the conference's administrative director, Leonidas Ralph Mecham. "Often, when a judge makes a decision in a case, even though it faithfully follows federal law, that judge is subject to harsh, sometimes vicious, criticism," Mecham said. "The Judicial Conference wants to ensure that this criticism does not result in physical harm to judges and their families." Judges themselves now must pay for internal security at their homes, Judge Jane Roth of the Philadelphia-based 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said last month. She heads the conference's committee on security and facilities. It was not immediately known whether the government pays internal home security for the Supreme Court, which is not included in the conference's request. There are more than 1,800 active and semiretired judges and magistrates in the federal court system, court officials said. The judges, in their said, said they also want more money for the U.S. marshals, who provide their security; more marshals assigned to courtroom duty during criminal proceedings; and more people hired for the marshal's threat assessment office, which has three employees. In the Chicago killings, an unemployed electrician committed suicide after breaking into U.S. District Judge Joan Lefkow's home and fatally shooting her husband and mother. A suicide note contained a hit list of seven federal judges and four state judges, newspaper reports say. On Wednesday, white supremacist Matthew Hale was sentenced Wednesday to 40 years prison for soliciting an undercover FBI informant to kill Lefkow in retaliation for her ruling against him in a trademark dispute. In Atlanta, a state judge, a court reporter, a sheriff's deputy and a federal agent were killed after an unshackled man being escorted to court for a rape trial allegedly stole a deputy's gun, opened fire and then fled. Judges "believe that attacks such as these strike at the core of our system of government and steps should be taken as soon as possible to preclude them from happening again in the future," Mecham said. Pro se StatusKevin Jay Long, Medicolegal
consultant Kendra Reinshagen,
Executive director, Legal Aid Bureau of Metropolitan Family Services Chief Judge Calls for More Security Chicago Sun Times Calling the Feb. 28 Lefkow family slayings an "assault on the law," Chicago's chief federal judge said Wednesday all judges now need to try to anticipate how litigants will react to their rulings. In a State of the Courts address before the Federal Bar Association in Chicago, Chief Judge Charles Kocoras singled out those people who file their cases pro se, or without an attorney. "It is no longer going to be enough to determine the correct legal answers to a myriad of disputes; it will often be necessary, especially with pro se litigants, to attempt to divine how they may receive our rulings," he said. Kocoras' comments came after admitted gunman Bart Ross killed the husband and mother of U.S. District Judge Joan Lefkow in her North Side home after she ruled against Ross in his medical malpractice lawsuit. Ross killed himself near Milwaukee last week and left a suicide note confessing to the murders. Kocoras called for increased security measures for judges, adding some jurors might feel unsafe deliberating certain cases. Lefkow
Killer Tracked in '99 By Brendan McCarthy The man linked to the
killing of a federal judge's husband and mother was previously
labeled a serious safety threat to the Illinois attorney general six
years ago, three former state officials said.
The
Lefkow Murders - Ross Letter to NBC-Channel 5 The morning after murder
suspect Bart Ross killed himself during a traffic stop in West
Allis, Wis., staff members in the television newsroom of NBC5 in
Chicago discovered a handwritten letter that had been mailed to the
station, bearing the signature "Bart A. Ross." The letter was handed
over to FBI agents Thursday morning, and NBC5 shared a facsimile of
the three-page text with the Tribune: By Don Babwin CHICAGO —— A man who filed bizarre, rambling lawsuits over his cancer treatment and shot himself to death during a traffic stop appears to be the lone killer of the mother and husband of a federal judge who had ruled against him, police said late yesterday. DNA on a cigarette found after the killings matches that of Chicago electrician Bart Ross, who claimed responsibility for the slayings in a suicide note, authorities said last night. "The DNA match, with all the other evidence, certainly convinces us that Ross is the offender in the Lefkow family homicide," Chicago police spokesman David Bayless said. Police Superintendent Phil Cline said earlier yesterday that Ross fit a witness description of a man seen leaving Lefkow's home the day of the killings. Ross, 57, committed suicide Wednesday in West Allis, Wis., after an officer pulled him over because of broken taillights on his van. Cline would not speculate on what Ross was doing in the area. But at least one other judge who had ruled against him lived there. And a source close to the investigation told The Associated Press that the suicide note, in Ross' van contained the names of judges. Lefkow came home Feb. 28 to find her 64-year-old husband, Michael Lefkow, and 89-year-old mother, Donna Humphrey, shot to death in the basement. Investigators earlier had suspected the slayings may have been the work of white supremacists angry over another of Lefkow's rulings. But Ross had no known connections to extremist groups. Last fall, the judge had dismissed a lawsuit in which Ross accused doctors of disfiguring him when they treated him for cancer in the early 1990s. Cline said that after Ross killed himself, police and federal agents found a note in which he implicated himself in the murders. WMAQ-TV in Chicago said it also received a handwritten letter signed by a Bart Ross yesterday in which the writer describes breaking into the Lefkow house around dawn. The writer said he planned to wait in the basement all day for the judge and kill her. But he said the judge's husband discovered him around 9 a.m., so he shot him, then killed Lefkow's mother after she heard the gun and called out to her son-in-law. "After I shot [the] husband and mother of Judge Lefkow, I had a lot of time to think about life and death. Killing is no fun, even though I knew I was already dead. I gave up further killings on about 1:15 p.m. on Feb. 28, 2005, and left Judge Lefkow's house," the station quoted the letter as saying. In the lawsuit dismissed by Lefkow last September, Ross claimed doctors had damaged his mouth and caused him to lose his teeth when they treated him for cancer from 1992 into 1995. After the slayings, suspicion had immediately turned to white supremacist Matthew Hale, who was in prison for trying to have Lefkow killed for ruling against him in a trademark dispute. Hale's father, Russell, said he felt terrible for the Lefkow family but "great relief" for his own when he learned of Ross' likely involvement. AP (Judge Joan Lefkow did what all the other federal court judges do, dismiss civil rights cases, which than are rubber stamped by the appeals courts.) Man
Claims to Have Slain Judge's Family
By Don Babwin
Associated Press March 10, 2005  CHICAGO
(March 10) - A man who shot himself to death during a traffic stop
in Wisconsin claimed in a suicide note that he killed a federal
judge's husband and mother, a source close to the investigation
told The Associated Press Thursday.Chicago Police Department spokesman David Bayless identified Judge Joan Lefkow the man as Bart Ross.
Lefkow had ruled against Ross in a civil case involving a medical-Michael
Lefkow malpractice
lawsuit, a ruling that was upheld by a federal appeals court in
January. Ross, 57, was also being evicted from his home and had a
court date
Lefkow found the bodies of her husband, attorney Michael Lefkow,
64, and her mother, Donna Humphrey, 89, on the basement floor of
the Lefkow home the evening of Feb. 28. Donna Humphrey Matthew Hale, who had been convicted of soliciting Lefkow's murder after she ruled against him in a trademark dispute. Investigators insisted, however, that Hale's followers and other hate groups were just one focus of the investigation. In the letter to WMAQ, Ross said he waited all day in a utility room in the basement and shot the judge's husband after being discovered. Ross said he then shot Lefkow's mother after she heard the gunshot and called out to her son-in-law. ''After I shot husband and mother of Judge Lefkow, I had a lot of time to think about life and death. Killing is no fun, even though I knew I was already dead,'' the station quoted the letter as saying. Ross said he stayed in the house until about 1:15 p.m. before deciding to leave, according to the letter. The suicide note found in the van indicated that Lefkow had ruled against Ross in a civil case, costing him ''his house, his job and family,'' the Chicago Tribune reported, citing unidentified sources. The note also included details in the slayings that were not released to the public, Tribune Deputy Managing Editor James Warren said in an interview on CNN. Ross was stopped by police in West Allis, Wis., Wednesday evening because his van had a faulty tail light, police said. As officers approached the car, he killed himself with a gunshot to the head, police said. Police in the Milwaukee suburb declined to characterize the evidence found in the van. But a source close to the investigation told the AP on condition of anonymity the van contained a suicide note that also listed other judges. The Tribune also reported that about 300 .22-caliber shells were found in the van. Investigators found three casings of the same caliber in the Lefkow home. Last September, Lefkow dismissed a civil rights lawsuit in which Ross claimed doctors at the University of Illinois-Chicago Hospital and its clinic had disfigured him, damaged his mouth and caused him to lose his teeth when they treated him for cancer from 1992 to 1995. Among other claims, Ross alleged doctors committed a ''terrorist act'' against him by giving him radiation treatment without his consent. He represented himself in the lawsuit. Defendants included the federal government, the State of Illinois, five doctors and four attorneys who had taken part in an earlier Ross lawsuit that was dismissed by another judge. Ross was also about to face eviction from his home, according to Cook County Sheriff's spokesman Bill Cunningham. A lawsuit was filed in housing court Feb. 23 seeking to evict Ross, and sheriff's deputies tried three times in early March to serve Ross with court papers. The case was due in court Thursday. Police have been unable to find any of the man's family. Chicago police Thursday cordoned off the street outside Ross' last-known address, a two-story home across from a high school on a tree-lined street on the city's North Side. Jinky Jackson, 34, a neighbor, said Ross was wearing a neck brace as of a month ago. She said she would say hello to Ross when she saw him but he would not reply. ''He doesn't mingle with other neighbors,'' Jackson said. ''He'd come home late and stay inside.'' Report: Suicide May Be Killer of Judge's Husband, Mother By The Associated Press Chicago police have sent detectives to a Milwaukee suburb to investigate a suicide but declined Thursday to confirm reports that the death had any connection to the murders of a federal judge's mother and husband. The Chicago Tribune reported that a man who shot himself in the head during a traffic stop Wednesday in West Allis, Wis., left a suicide note claiming responsibility for the slayings of U.S. District Judge Joan Humphrey Lefkow's mother and husband. West Allis police planned to hold a news conference Thursday. The newspaper, citing unnamed sources, said the suicide note included details about the slayings not released to the public. Investigators also discovered .22 caliber shells in the man's van that are the same caliber as the casings found in Lefkow's home, the Tribune reported in its Thursday editions. Lefkow found the bodies of her husband, Michael Lefkow, 64, and her mother, Donna Humphrey, 89, in the basement of her Chicago home when she returned from work Feb. 28. Authorities were investigating whether Judge Lefkow had ruled against the man in a civil case. The man's suicide note said the judgment had cost the him ``his house, his job and family,'' according to the newspaper. Jailed white supremacist Matthew Hale, convicted of soliciting an FBI informant to kill Judge Lefkow, had been an early focus of the investigation. He denied playing any role in the deaths. On Wednesday, authorities returned to the Lefkow house and led dogs trained to sniff out explosive material to determine where on the property firearms may have been used, said Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives spokesman Tom Ahern. Also Wednesday, an attorney for Hale said that Hale's mother asked him late last year to relay a coded message from Hale to one of his supporters. Lawyer Glenn Greenwald said he declined to deliver the message. |
It
is, in its way, a classic trajectory: An eager young prosecutor who
once fought in the city’s violent drug wars is promoted and serves
as a judge.
The
number of threats in fiscal year 2005 increased 63% from 2003.
Marshals investigated 953 threats and inappropriate communications
in 2005. Threats this fiscal year, which began Oct. 1, are outpacing
last year: Marshals have investigated 822 incidents.
WASHINGTON
(May 18) - A federal judge whose family was murdered asked the
Senate on Wednesday to condemn harsh remarks about the judiciary by
commentators such as evangelist Pat Robertson and members of
Congress, saying their words could spark more violence.
WMAQ-TV
in Chicago also reported Thursday that it had received a
handwritten letter signed by Ross in which he describes breaking
into the house of Judge Joan Humphrey Lefkow around 4:30 a.m. on
Feb. 28 with the intent to kill her and anyone else.
Thursday.|
A Feast
|
