Tippecanoe County judge Steven P. Meyer and his wife Kimberly were shot in their Indiana home on Sunday. Both are currently listed in stable condition, but the shooter remains at large and law enforcement has not released any information about a possible suspect. The Lafayette Police Department is leading the investigation alongside Indiana State Police, the Tippecanoe County Sheriff’s Office, the West Lafayette Police Department, the Tippecanoe County Prosecutor’s Office, and the FBI.
The shooter comes against a backdrop of rising threats against judges. A fact that clearly weighed on Chief Justice of Indiana Loretta H. Rush. She didn’t mince words about what this moment means for the judiciary. “I worry about the safety of all our judges,” she said. “As you work to peacefully resolve more than 1 million cases a year, you must not only feel safe, you must also be safe. Any violence against a judge or a judge’s family is completely unacceptable. As public servants, you are dedicated to the rule of law.”
The American Bar Association echoed that concern. ABA President Michelle A. Behnke said, “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.”
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Indiana Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith wrote, “I was devastated to learn that a sitting judge in Tippecanoe County, the Honorable Steve Meyer, and his wife were shot in their home this past weekend. Judges serve our communities by delivering justice, and they must be able to do so without fear for their own safety.”
Threats against judges have become increasingly common over the past year, with a growing culture that treats courts as just another battlefield in a partisan war. Judges don’t get to pick their cases. They don’t get to rule only when the outcome will be popular. And they certainly don’t sign up for their families to become collateral damage.
Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of The Jabot podcast, and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter @Kathryn1 or Mastodon @[email protected].