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August 04, 2024

Defusing the violence against judges, as courts under attack

Las Vegas law clerk Michael Lasso jumped into action last January when a judge was attacked in the courtroom. Lasso fought off the judge’s assailant – but others on the bench have not been as fortunate

Lasso told his story at “Safeguarding Public Officials: Protecting Judges, Civil Servants and the Rule of Law,” on Aug. 2 at the American Bar Association Annual Meeting in Chicago, where he joined other colleagues of the court to report on an alarming rise in threats and acts of violence against them – and the new efforts sprouting up to address the problem.

Credible threats of harm against the judiciary have risen sharply, from 175 in 2019 to 500 in 2023, said former Maryland district judge Paul W. Grimm, now retired, who helped to launch a new institute for judicial legal reform, the Bolch Judicial Institute at Duke Law School, where he is the director.

Last year fellow Maryland jurist Andrew Wilkerson, a county circuit court judge, was killed in the driveway of his home following his ruling in a child custody case, said the state’s Supreme Court Justice Matthew J. Fader, illustrating how the violence has spread beyond the courtroom and providing an example of how family law judges are at highest risk.

The tragedy sparked Maryland legislators to act on the vulnerabilities in the state’s justice system.

The Maryland General Assembly recently passed the Judge Andrew Wilkerson Judicial Security Act, which took effect in June. The bill establishes a pathway for judicial officers in Maryland to get their personal information removed from the internet, explained Fader.

Concurrently, change is underway on the national level.

In June, the U.S. Senate passed the bipartisan Countering Threats and Attacks on Our Judges Act, legislation that stressed the need to help protect the safety of judges and others who work in state courthouses nationwide. The bill, now under consideration in the U.S. House of Representatives, will create a new resource center to provide threat monitoring, training and the opportunity to conduct research related to best practices for court security.

The ABA House of Delegates session that will close the 2024 Annual Meeting will consider Resolution 516, which urges Congress to pass the bill.

The violence extends beyond judges, impacting others in the public sector.

Election workers have received physical, sexual, racist and anti-Semitic threats that have even included threats against their children, said David Becker, executive director and founder of the Center for Election Innovation & Research in Washington, D.C., who noted that some states have passed laws to criminalize such behaviors.

Becker created the Elected Officials Legal Defense Network to connect election officials with pro bono lawyers and professionals who can provide advice and assistance.

Becker said it “saddens” him that the nonprofit needs to offer this type of service, but predicts even more help will be needed beyond the current election cycle.

Legal professionals interested in volunteering with the network may contact the organization.

“Safeguarding Public Officials: Protecting Judges, Civil Servants and the Rule of Law” was sponsored by the Judicial Division and the Government and Public Sector Lawyers Division.