By B.T. Clark
A bipartisan bill introduced by Reps. Lucy McBath and Michael McCaul would create the first-ever threat monitoring center for 30,000 state and local judges who currently lack federal protection.
?? What’s Happening: The Countering Threats and Attacks on Our Judges Act would establish a State Judicial Threat Intelligence and Resource Center to:
- Provide security assessments for courthouses and judges’ homes
- Create a national database to track threats against state judges
- Coordinate with law enforcement to mitigate threats
??? Why It Matters: Threats against judicial officers have skyrocketed 400% since 2015, with judges in multiple states being killed, attacked, or targeted simply for doing their jobs. Unlike federal judges, state and local judicial officers have no centralized security resource.
?? The Big Picture: The surge in threats against judges reflects a broader trend of increasing hostility toward public officials. In January, then-Chief Justice of The Georgia Supreme Court Michael Boggs railed against the trend of violence against Georgia’s judges.
“It seems that our entire system of justice, a bedrock of our democracy, is under attack. These threats take many forms, from threats posed by disinformation and actual violence to threats posed by citizens and even elected officials publicly stating their intention to not honor and abide by lawful court decisions,” Boggs said.