In the wake of several violent attacks on judges across the country, a security expert advised judges to require almost everyone – including lawyers – to go through metal detectors at the courthouse.
“I’m going to be the bad guy here,” said John Muffler, a consultant with Aequitas Global Security who works with courts and judges. “I am not a fan of anybody coming into a courthouse without being screened, unless it’s the marshal or the judge. So nobody – not an FBI agent, not a local cop, not a prosecutor. It doesn’t take that long. Leave 10 seconds earlier.”
Muffler made his remarks at a June 16 webinar, “From Grievance to Attack: A Discussion on Judicial Security and Best Practices for Safety,” hosted by the American Bar Association Judicial Division.
“I had this issue come to me when I was a judicial security inspector in Philadelphia,” Muffler said. “There was a big complaint to the chief judge. These attorneys were always running late. So I stood downstairs at rush hour with a stopwatch and I just waited for a couple of days and reported back to the chief judge.
“I don’t like the fast pass system in any courthouse. Just law enforcement that works there, marshals and judges are the only ones who get the free pass.”
Judge Linda Bell, a state court judge in Clark County, Nevada, agreed. “I was just having this conversation with our director of security yesterday,” said Bell, who moderated the panel discussion. “DAs, public defenders, contract attorneys – we give all kinds of people badges to get into the courthouse and bypass the security checkpoints because, you know, you’ve got to get people in.” That should change, she said.
Judge Karen Khalil, a district court judge in Redford Township, Michigan, said her court added a check-in kiosk at the front door “and it’s been a godsend.” Every person who enters the courthouse must sign in with their name, phone number, address and why they are there, she said. The court also is moving to a system of appointments, she added.
“That kiosk is able to give us a detailed report of every single person who comes into our building every day,” Khalil said.
At the New Orleans federal courthouse, Judge Nannette Jolivette Brown heads the building security committee. Judges use a side entrance, a shortcut into the building, Brown said, and U.S. attorneys wanted to use it, too.
“I had to say no,” Brown recalled. “Everybody has to go through security because sometimes it’s who you least suspect that will bring a firearm into the building.”
Muffler, the security expert, also advised judges to monitor social media accounts of their spouses and children. He advised them to remove any personal references online and avoid putting anything on their car related to family or personal business – not a law school bumper sticker, not stick figures of children and pets, and definitely not license plates that indicate they are a judge.
“This is a self-inflicted wound,” Muffler said. “I read that as, ‘Follow me to my kid’s game. Follow me to where I live.’ ”
The webinar began with ABA President Reginald Turner urging Congress to enhance security protections for judges by adopting the Daniel Anderl Judicial Security and Privacy Act, named for the recently murdered son of federal Judge Esther Salas of New Jersey.
“We must take swift and comprehensive action to avoid further tragedy,” Turner said.
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