TBA Law Blog


Posted by: Kate Prince on Feb 23, 2021

The U.S. Senate will soon take up new legislation seeking more than $250 million for home security and 1,000 more deputy marshals to help provide better security for federal judges, CBS News reports. The bill comes as threats to federal judges have jumped 400% in the last five years, with more than 4,000 reported threats last year alone. Many of those are death threats, sometimes ending in violence. 60 Minutes spoke with federal Judge Esther Salas whose son was shot and killed in their New Jersey home in July by a disgruntled attorney. Her husband was also shot but survived. Salas, who was the intended target of the attack, has since advocated for legislation that would scrub judges’ personal information from the internet.  The last judicial security upgrade was 15-years ago after a Chicago judge’s husband was killed by an angry plaintiff.