Judge Whose Son Was Murdered By Disgruntled Litigant Asks Congress To Better Protect Federal Judges

The shooter also critically injured the judge's husband.

onDecember 9, 2020 at 3:48 PMDecember 9, 2020 at 2:48 PM

Judge Esther Salas (Screenshot via ABC News)

For judges and their families, better security is a matter of life and death. But its importance goes beyond our well-being alone. For our nation’s sake, judicial security is essential. Federal judges must be free to make their decisions, no matter how unpopular, without fear of harm. The federal government has a responsibility to protect all federal judges because our safety is foundational to our great democracy. …

If Daniel’s death shows our country anything, it is that threats against federal judges are real, that they have dire consequences. Even at the age of 20, my son cared deeply about other people, and he bravely, and selflessly, protected those he loved most. We, too, must be brave and do what is right to ensure that judges can perform their duties without fear that they or their families will be gunned down where they are most vulnerable.

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From Pilot and Above The Law

Daniel’s death is speaking to us, but will we listen? For the sake of my brothers and sisters on the bench, Congress must act now. Every day that goes by without action leaves our federal judges, our justice system and our very democracy in danger.

— Judge Esther Salas (D.N.J.), in a New York Times op-ed where she impassionately pleads that the U.S. Senate pass the Daniel Anderl Judicial Security and Privacy Act, legislation that would protect federal judges by removing their personal information from the internet. The bill is named after Salas’s son, Daniel, who was shot to death by a disgruntled lawyer who stalked the judge and posed as a delivery man to gain access to her home. Salas has pledged to return to the bench in the wake of her son’s death.

Staci 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.