I wanted to thank Immediate Past Chair of the JD Julian Mann for his outstanding work. We said goodbye to Tori Jo Wible the JD’s amazing and talented Director. We will miss her and thank her for her continued commitment and many contributions to the JD. However, we received great news on August 29 that Kris Berliant will become the new Director of the JD. I am thrilled and exited to work with Kris. She has been with the ABA for 29 years and 27 of those years she has been doing great work for the JD.
I am excited and honored to have the opportunity to serve as the Chair of the JD this year. I am thrilled to share with you my goals for this year. I hope we can create a toolbox for our members on Judicial Security. According to the Conference for Chief Justices:
U.S. Marshals Service — including federal judges, prosecutors, and court officials — faced over 4,500 threats, a 400% increase since 2015. Numerous threats have also been made toward state and local judiciary members, including the October 2023 murder of Washington County Circuit Court Judge Andrew F. Wilkinson outside his Maryland home and the 2022 murder of Former Juneau County Circuit Court Judge John Roemer in his Wisconsin home. Criminals have attacked or threatened state judges and court personnel in Nevada, Colorado, Texas, Ohio, Mississippi, Rhode Island, New York, California, Kentucky, Michigan, Wyoming, Idaho, and Indiana.
JD Resolution 516 successfully passed the ABA House of Delegates unanimously thanks to the excellent work of Judge John Allen, Chair, and Jonathan Shirts, Vice-Chair of the JD Judicial Security Committee and the testimony of Judge Julian Mann, Immediate Past JD Chair. In addition, there is currently a bill in the United States House of Representatives which passed the Senate with bipartisan support that creates an entity to collect statistics on judicial threats in the state and local judiciaries, provides monitoring of threats, physical security assessments, and coordinates research to identify, examine, and advance best practices around court security.
My second goal is a commitment to Diversity Equality and Inclusion (DEI). This summer a group from Wisconsin filed a complaint with the US Department of Justice requesting the DOJ investigate 9 ABA diversity programs including the JD’s Judicial Clerkship Program (“JCP”) alleging that these programs are violating Title VI. We received good news at the Annual Meeting as the DOJ declined to investigate. We must remain vigilant and protect these important programs. The JCP is a joint effort of the JD and the Council for Diversity in the Educational Pipeline. The JCP committee is excited to begin the planning process for the 25th JCP on September 19. I encourage all of you to volunteer. While the JD has made great progress in the area of DEI with the JCP, there is still much work to be done. If you have a desire to assist with this important mission of the JD, please reach out to me at [email protected]
In closing, I am excited for the opportunity to work with all of you and encourage you to get involved. It is my hope that we can all work together to bring positive changes in the area of judicial security and DEI.