Threats to Judges, Prosecutors Soaring
Jerry Markon
The Washington Post
May 25, 2009
prompting hundreds to get 24-hour protection from armed U.S. marshals. Many
federal judges are altering their routes to work, installing security
systems at home, shielding their addresses by paying bills at the courthouse
or refraining from registering to vote. Some even pack weapons on the bench.
The problem has become so pronounced that a high-tech "threat management"
center recently opened in Crystal City, where a staff of about 25 marshals
and analysts monitor a 24-hour number for reporting threats, use
sophisticated mapping software to track those being threatened and tap into
a classified database linked to the FBI and CIA.
"I live with a constant heightened sense of awareness," said John R. Adams,
a federal judge in Ohio who began taking firearms classes after a federal
judge's family was slain in Chicago and takes a pistol to the courthouse on
weekends. "If I'm going to carry a firearm, I'd better know how to use it."
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