1115.org

The topic of violence against judges has gotten a lot of play recently, what with the handful of recent attacks and the thinly-veiled threats from Christian fundamentalists and members of Congress. Threats against judges have risen “sharply” over the last few years, which is enough in itself to give one pause; what’s worse is that, according to a congressional subcommittee, the U.S. Marshals don’t have enough manpower to provide adequate protection.

The Marshal’s Service has been responding to around 700 threats against the judiciary each year and in 2004 provided protection for 39 judges and prosecutors, according to Paul McNulty, U.S. Attorney for the eastern district of Virginia.

“The sheer number of threats shows not only the potential danger facing our judges, but how lucky we have been not to lose more judges to litigation-induced violence,” McNulty told the House of Representatives subcommittee on crime, terrorism and homeland security.

How sharply has this threat level increased? Testimony from the hearing estimates that the number of attacks against judicial officials has tripled from the 1980s. At the same time, some Marshals districts are operating at up to 30 percent below an adequate staffing level.

This is a ridiculous situation. To steal a line from Tommy Lee Jones in The Fugitive, what we need is a hard-target search of every gas station, residence, warehouse, farmhouse, henhouse, outhouse and doghouse until we find enough people to safeguard the judiciary.