Murders raise questions about security of judges

They have no protection outside the courtroom unless a risk is identified.
CHICAGO (AP) -- In an era when Americans are security conscious as never before, the men and women who preside over the nation's courts and decide the fate of criminals and terrorists go about their daily lives largely unprotected.
That lack of routine security has been underscored by the murders of the husband and 89-year-old mother of U.S. District Judge Joan Humphrey Lefkow in the basement of their home on an affluent street on Chicago's North Side.
Some fellow judges say it shows the need for better security outside the courthouse, and security experts said it highlights the importance of careful threat assessment. Judge Lefkow had received special protection after a threat, but it was withdrawn two years ago.
Marshals disagree
"Clearly, it was an error to remove security so quickly, so the assessment wasn't adequate," says Robert McCrie, a professor at New York's John Jay College of Criminal Justice and authority on security administration.
Federal marshals dispute any notion that they erred in assessing the risk to Judge Lefkow.
"Mr. McCrie is entitled to his opinion but we don't know how he can formulate an opinion on a process that he has never been privy to," said Shannon Metzger, a spokeswoman for the marshal's office in Chicago. She said the marshals stand behind the assessment they made in the Lefkow case after consulting the FBI, prosecutors and the judge herself.
Inside courthouses, judges are protected by marshals, bailiffs, court security, police and FBI agents. But outside, they have no special protection unless a threat is recognized. They drive themselves home from work, eat out at restaurants, visit shopping centers and walk in their neighborhoods like anyone else.
When a threat is recognized, guards can be assigned to them and their children, police can be posted outside their homes, and burglar alarms can be installed as well.
Statistically, violence against federal judges is unusual. Only three have ever been murdered, according to the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts.
Feeling of vulnerability
However, the increase in terrorism, both domestic and foreign, is making judges feel more vulnerable now, and they are increasingly concerned about their families as well.
"I think there is an increased need and awareness because there are people who are interested in attacking the very fabric of our democracy," says U.S. District Judge Marvin E. Aspen, a colleague of Lefkow's.
"Judges get all kinds of threats," he says. "Most don't amount to anything, but occasionally there is a threat that is a very viable one. Those have to be identified."
Judge Lefkow had special protection for about two weeks in 2003 around the time of the arrest of white supremacist Matthew Hale, who was later convicted of soliciting an undercover FBI informant to murder the judge. Lefkow had received many threats after she ordered Hale to stop using the name World Church of the Creator for his extremist organization because of a trademark lawsuit.
Since giving up the special protection, Judge Lefkow's home had no security system Monday, when she returned from work and found her husband, Michael, an attorney, and mother, Donna Humphrey, shot to death in the basement.
Judge Lefkow and her daughters are now being guarded by federal marshals.
Hale, 33, who faces sentencing next month, has denied any involvement in the killings. He argued in a motion made public Monday that he shouldn't be sentenced to more than eight years and contended authorities owe him and the judge apologies for causing Lefkow "to think that her life was in danger needlessly and wrongly."
Copyright 2005 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.