Yesterday I wrote about Justice Jackson’s speech about threats to judges.
These are not idle threats. Since 1979 four federal
judges have been murdered. In 2005 Judge Joan Lefkow’s husband and mother were
killed in retribution for one of her rulings.
In July 2020 Judge Esther Salas’s son was shot to
death and her husband seriously wounded. A crazed lawyer went to the judge’s
home with the intent to kill her. Her son, Daniel Anderl, had just celebrated his
20th birthday.
Since then Salas and other judges have had anonymous pizza
deliveries come to their door, with the intent to prove that “they” know where
you live. To make sure the intent is understood some of the pizza boxes come with
the name of “Daniel Anderl” on it.
A federal law, known as
Daniel’s Law, was passed in December 2022 to protect judges from threats or
worse. The law prohibits the publication and sharing of personal information,
including address, phone numbers, schools, and more, of active or retired federal
judges, prosecutors, and law enforcement officers and their immediate families.
The Act also authorizes the US Marshals Service to hire extra staff to protect
federal judges. But not all states have passed the Daniel’s Law.
Despite this law
hundreds of pizzas have been delivered to judges’ homes across the country in
the first few months of Trump’s second administration. Most if not all of the
judges targeted have recently ruled against Trump’s policies. And some of the
pizzas still have Daniel’s name on them.
Judges are calling for
the Trump administration to tone down the hostile language used against the
courts and especially against judges who are ruling on cases involving Trump’s
policies.
Judge Salas said in an
interview last month that the rhetoric has resulted in an unprecedented number
of threats to those who work in the judiciary and to their families. “We are facing what appears to be a targeted
strike against judges in the form of intimidation by unknown sources”.
Why are Attorney General
Pam Bondi and the Department of Justice doing nothing to protect these judges
and court employees?
Sources
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/08/opinion/esther-salas-murder-federal-judges.html
https://nj.gov/governor/news/news/562020/approved/20201120b.shtml
No comments:
Post a Comment