Courts

Judge Esther Salas Will Return To The Bench After Lawyer Murdered Her Son

This strong woman wants to help protect her fellow judges after what happened to her child.

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Judge Esther Salas (Screenshot via ABC News)

I have to protect and at least help to protect my brothers and sisters on the bench. We do that by never letting anyone forget Daniel. Never letting anyone forget what he did for us. Never letting anyone forget the high price we all pay if indeed the right things aren’t done.

This man took the most important thing in my life. I can’t let him take anything else. I love my job. I’m proud to be a United States district judge. I can’t let him take that from me.

I’m gonna strive every morning to be the best person that I could be. My son gave his life for his father and I. I have to look at that and say, ‘What a gift.’ I can’t squander it.

— Judge Esther Salas (D.N.J.), in her first television interview in the wake of her son’s murder at the hands of Roy Den Hollander, a former Cravath associate turned self-proclaimed antifeminist lawyer. Salas has pledged to return to the bench.

Staci ZaretskyStaci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.

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