By Michelle A. Behnke
The American Bar Association echoes the concerns of Loretta H. Rush, chief justice of the Indiana Supreme Court, who encouraged judges to remain vigilant after Tippecanoe County (Ind.) Superior Court Judge Steven P. Meyer and his wife, Kimberly Meyer, were shot at their home Jan. 18. “You must not only feel safe,” she wrote in an open letter to state judges, “you must also be safe. Any violence against a judge or a judge’s family is completely unacceptable.”
While a motive in the shooting has not yet been determined, the ABA recognizes that judges face an unprecedented level of attacks and threats. The U.S. Marshals Service, which protects federal judges, has recorded 2,256 threats against federal judges since 2022. The threat level faced by state court judges is harder to determine because there is no national reporting system to track comprehensive state-level statistics. Available local data reveals widespread issues. In Maricopa County, Arizona, for example, more than 400 serious threats were reported against state judges from 2020-2023.
No judge should feel threatened because they did their job and made a ruling. Justice and democracy cannot operate if decisions are influenced by a judge’s concern over their safety or the safety of their families.
In November, the U.S. Senate passed the bipartisan Countering Threats and Attacks on Our Judges Act (S.2379) by unanimous consent. The bill would establish a State Judicial Threat Intelligence and Resource Center to provide technical assistance, training and monitoring of threats for state and local judges and court personnel and address the importance of pooling state resources to ensure the safety of state and local judges.
The ABA urges the U.S. House of Representative to pass this important bipartisan bill and continue to protect judicial independence by taking the necessary steps to provide safety and security to all our judges and court personnel.
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Michelle A. Behnke, a member of the Boardman Clark law firm in Madison, Wisconsin, is president of the American Bar Association. Prior to joining the firm, she was the principal of the firm Michelle Behnke & Associates, where her practice focused on business, real estate and estate planning. Behnke’s experience in the real estate area was recognized by her election to membership in the American College of Real Estate Lawyers. She has also been elected into The American Law Institute, the American Bar Foundation Fellows and the Wisconsin Bar Foundation Fellows.
The American Bar Association echoes the concerns of Loretta H. Rush, chief justice of the Indiana Supreme Court, who encouraged judges to remain vigilant after Tippecanoe County (Ind.) Superior Court Judge Steven P. Meyer and his wife, Kimberly Meyer, were shot at their home Jan. 18. “You must not only feel safe,” she wrote in an open letter to state judges, “you must also be safe. Any violence against a judge or a judge’s family is completely unacceptable.”
While a motive in the shooting has not yet been determined, the ABA recognizes that judges face an unprecedented level of attacks and threats. The U.S. Marshals Service, which protects federal judges, has recorded 2,256 threats against federal judges since 2022. The threat level faced by state court judges is harder to determine because there is no national reporting system to track comprehensive state-level statistics. Available local data reveals widespread issues. In Maricopa County, Arizona, for example, more than 400 serious threats were reported against state judges from 2020-2023.
No judge should feel threatened because they did their job and made a ruling. Justice and democracy cannot operate if decisions are influenced by a judge’s concern over their safety or the safety of their families.
In November, the U.S. Senate passed the bipartisan Countering Threats and Attacks on Our Judges Act (S.2379) by unanimous consent. The bill would establish a State Judicial Threat Intelligence and Resource Center to provide technical assistance, training and monitoring of threats for state and local judges and court personnel and address the importance of pooling state resources to ensure the safety of state and local judges.
The ABA urges the U.S. House of Representative to pass this important bipartisan bill and continue to protect judicial independence by taking the necessary steps to provide safety and security to all our judges and court personnel.
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Michelle A. Behnke, a member of the Boardman Clark law firm in Madison, Wisconsin, is president of the American Bar Association. Prior to joining the firm, she was the principal of the firm Michelle Behnke & Associates, where her practice focused on business, real estate and estate planning. Behnke’s experience in the real estate area was recognized by her election to membership in the American College of Real Estate Lawyers. She has also been elected into The American Law Institute, the American Bar Foundation Fellows and the Wisconsin Bar Foundation Fellows.
