On behalf of the Jacksonville Chapter of the Federal Bar Association, I write to address a recent incident involving a shot being fired into a federal judge’s home.
On Sunday, June 23, an unknown individual fired a shot into the home of one our federal judges.
At the time of this article, we do not know the shooter’s identity or background, nor do we know if the shooter was motivated by a specific ruling by the judge.
Most importantly, we do know that neither the judge nor his family was injured.
While all acts of violence are to be strongly condemned, special attention must be reserved for threats and acts of violence against members of our judiciary.
An independent judiciary, immune from threats and violence, is essential to the administration of justice and the operation of a free and democratic society.
As lawyers, we often are confronted with challenging legal issues with no clear answers. As a result, we can, or at least should, appreciate the demanding role of a judge in deciding legal issues, not just as an intellectual exercise but with real life consequences for the litigants.
On a regular basis, our judges are called upon to issue orders that drastically affect the parties and the community at large: decisions regarding criminal sentencing or guilt, decisions regarding eviction or foreclosure of a home, and decisions regarding custody or visitation of loved ones.
Articles could be written on the intellectual and emotional demands placed on a judge, yet few of us appreciate that judges assume personal risks to themselves and their families when they accept the call to serve the community through the administration of justice.
The shooting incident provides an opportunity to acknowledge the risks the men and women of the judiciary undertake, but without the specter of physical injury, which could have accompanied this shooting.
Of course, we do not suggest that a shot fired into a home does not take a mental or emotional toll. Few of us can imagine the shock of a bullet ripping through our homes with our loved ones inside. Similarly, few can imagine the strain of knowing that an individual is at large and may be attempting to harm you and your family.
Although this incident did not involve physical injury, far too often federal judges and their families have been the object of threats and acts of violence as a result of the judges’ rulings. Criminal defendants and civil litigants alike have threatened and carried out acts of violence directed at federal judges and their families in Illinois, Alabama, New York, and other states.
In 2005, a federal judge in Illinois returned from work to find her husband and mother had been killed by a civil litigant who had appeared before the judge and was upset with the judge’s ruling dismissing his case.
Sadly, Jacksonville has not been immune from threats related to a judge’s work.
During the desegregation of Duval County’s public schools in the 1970s, the presiding federal judge and his family were threatened repeatedly, merely because the judge was following the dictates of the law.
Those threats and acts of violence were directed at the judges, not as the result of any animus from the judges, but for the sole reason that the judges were doing their jobs: deciding cases that were assigned to them.
While it is unclear whether this most recent incident is related to a specific ruling by the judge, we must acknowledge our judges’ willingness to accept the inherent risks in the proper administration of justice.
Further, a comment should be made regarding the coverage of this story. Several news outlets originally provided details regarding the location or images of the judge’s home.
While media certainly must cover such events and have access to publicly available information, we strongly urge all members of the fourth estate to exercise caution when reporting sensitive information regarding the members of our judiciary.
In this case, we feel the information concerning the location and pictures of the home were not necessary to cover the shooting.
By this article, we do not seek simply to praise our judges or call upon others to praise them. Instead, we take this opportunity to acknowledge the underappreciated danger of serving as a judge.
In the Middle District and in Jacksonville, we are fortunate to have hard-working judges, dedicated to serving the community through the administration of justice.
Today, we commend our judges for accepting a job with unrecognized risks thrust upon them when making intellectually-demanding and life-altering decisions: decisions which are too often life-altering for the judges themselves.