Washington – A federal judge whose husband and mother were slain by a disgruntled litigant urged Congress on Wednesday to help bring an end to “truly dangerous” verbal attacks on judges that might lead to violent action.
Judge Joan Humphrey Lef kow, in her first public comments about her ordeal, said one way lawmakers could protect judges would be to condemn judge-bashing remarks by commentators and colleagues.
“Fostering disrespect for judges can only encourage those that are on the edge, or on the fringe, to exact revenge,” Lefkow told the Senate Judiciary Committee.
“I understand that Congress cannot eradicate violence against judges, nor are we exempt from this madness in the shadows,” she said, borrowing the final phrase from a note from former President Clinton, who appointed her in 2000 to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.
“But as I replay in my mind the events that led to our tragedy,” she went on, “I believe that several things might have prevented it and could prevent it from happening to even one more of our judges.”
An unemployed electrician, Bart Ross, admitted to the Feb. 28 slayings of Lefkow’s family members before he committed suicide in March. DNA tests have also linked him to the Chicago-area crime, which Lefkow said happened “for no reason other than that they were in his way on his road to murder me.”
In addition to asking lawmakers to “publicly and persistently repudiate gratuitous attacks on the judiciary,” 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.
