Federal judges feel left in dark over safety
Federal judges feel left in dark over safety
Lefkow slayings spur plea for security help
By Andrew Zajac
Washington Bureau
May 17, 2005
WASHINGTON -- Angered at what they say is an unwillingness by the Justice Department to include them in planning for their own safety, federal judges have turned to Congress to prod the executive branch to collaborate with them on security measures.
Justice Department officials have rebuffed judges' requests for information on court security staffing patterns by the U.S. Marshals Service, which handles such security, according to U.S. Circuit Judge Jane Roth of Delaware, the head of the security committee of the Judicial Conference, the administrative arm of the federal judiciary.
"I think that the Department of Justice feels that it's none of our business," Roth said.
Security has been an overriding concern among federal judges since Feb. 28, when Bart Ross, a disgruntled litigant in a case before U.S. District Judge Joan Lefkow of Chicago, hid in her home and then killed her husband and mother. Ross later killed himself in Wisconsin.
Roth said Deputy Atty. Gen. James Comey told her that providing judges with information about the Marshals Service's security plans would violate the principle of separation of powers between the executive and judicial branches.
"I told him we needed that information. He said it would be one independent branch meddling with another independent branch--separation of powers," Roth said.
A Justice Department official disputed Roth's characterization of the conversation, saying that the department simply is trying to safeguard sensitive information that it would not turn over to anyone except to the department's congressional overseers.
"It's not been a separation of powers issue at all," said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity. The Judicial Conference has been consulted frequently on the work of an internal Justice Department task force that is studying judges' security needs, the official said.
In testimony last week, Roth urged Congress to change existing law to require Justice Department officials to share security information with judges.
"Notwithstanding our best efforts, no information has been provided by the department that can help us evaluate whether we are being provided with adequate protection," she told the House Judiciary Committee. "Therefore, a statutory change is needed to ensure that the judiciary obtains the information it needs to make recommendations about judicial security to key decision-makers."
Roth is scheduled to testify Wednesday before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Lefkow also is scheduled to testify and is expected to make her first extended public remarks about security since the slayings.
Earlier Monday, Atty. Gen. Alberto Gonzales declined to comment on any recommendations the task force might make.
Gonzales backpedaled when asked about Roth's complaint that judges were being kept in the dark.
"I need to go back and look at that issue before I answer your question," he said.
Roth said conflict about sensitive information between the judicial and executive branches is not new, but the Sept. 11 attacks and the threats posed by people such as Ross nursing grudges against the judicial system demand closer cooperation.
Federal judges also say that the issue of their safety is not an urgent enough priority with the Marshals Service.
"There isn't anything particularly exciting about judicial security," said Charles Kocoras, chief judge of the Northern District of Illinois. "It doesn't get the juices flowing."
In addition to judicial security, the Marshals Service is responsible for transporting prisoners, running the witness protection program and finding fugitives.
In a letter to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), Kocoras asked that the Marshals Service commit in writing to meet explicit standards for judicial security.
"If things aren't delineated expressly . . . sometimes they don't get done," Kocoras said in an interview.
Even before the Lefkow slayings put the Marshals Service in the spotlight, the agency had been tarnished by negative reports by the Justice Department's inspector general.
In the most recent of such findings, released Monday, Inspector General Glenn Fine found that the marshals failed to adequately vet guards hired on a contract basis to help transport prisoners.
The Marshals Service hired more than 2,700 part-time guards for prisoner transport duty in 2003, augmenting its regular workforce of 3,350 deputy marshals.
Marshals Service spokesman Dave Turner said the agency has agreed to begin changes proposed by the inspector general.
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azajac@tribune.com
Copyright © 2005, Chicago Tribune
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0505170025may17,1,5787818.story?coll=chi-newsnationworld-hed
Lefkow slayings spur plea for security help
By Andrew Zajac
Washington Bureau
May 17, 2005
WASHINGTON -- Angered at what they say is an unwillingness by the Justice Department to include them in planning for their own safety, federal judges have turned to Congress to prod the executive branch to collaborate with them on security measures.
Justice Department officials have rebuffed judges' requests for information on court security staffing patterns by the U.S. Marshals Service, which handles such security, according to U.S. Circuit Judge Jane Roth of Delaware, the head of the security committee of the Judicial Conference, the administrative arm of the federal judiciary.
"I think that the Department of Justice feels that it's none of our business," Roth said.
Security has been an overriding concern among federal judges since Feb. 28, when Bart Ross, a disgruntled litigant in a case before U.S. District Judge Joan Lefkow of Chicago, hid in her home and then killed her husband and mother. Ross later killed himself in Wisconsin.
Roth said Deputy Atty. Gen. James Comey told her that providing judges with information about the Marshals Service's security plans would violate the principle of separation of powers between the executive and judicial branches.
"I told him we needed that information. He said it would be one independent branch meddling with another independent branch--separation of powers," Roth said.
A Justice Department official disputed Roth's characterization of the conversation, saying that the department simply is trying to safeguard sensitive information that it would not turn over to anyone except to the department's congressional overseers.
"It's not been a separation of powers issue at all," said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity. The Judicial Conference has been consulted frequently on the work of an internal Justice Department task force that is studying judges' security needs, the official said.
In testimony last week, Roth urged Congress to change existing law to require Justice Department officials to share security information with judges.
"Notwithstanding our best efforts, no information has been provided by the department that can help us evaluate whether we are being provided with adequate protection," she told the House Judiciary Committee. "Therefore, a statutory change is needed to ensure that the judiciary obtains the information it needs to make recommendations about judicial security to key decision-makers."
Roth is scheduled to testify Wednesday before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Lefkow also is scheduled to testify and is expected to make her first extended public remarks about security since the slayings.
Earlier Monday, Atty. Gen. Alberto Gonzales declined to comment on any recommendations the task force might make.
Gonzales backpedaled when asked about Roth's complaint that judges were being kept in the dark.
"I need to go back and look at that issue before I answer your question," he said.
Roth said conflict about sensitive information between the judicial and executive branches is not new, but the Sept. 11 attacks and the threats posed by people such as Ross nursing grudges against the judicial system demand closer cooperation.
Federal judges also say that the issue of their safety is not an urgent enough priority with the Marshals Service.
"There isn't anything particularly exciting about judicial security," said Charles Kocoras, chief judge of the Northern District of Illinois. "It doesn't get the juices flowing."
In addition to judicial security, the Marshals Service is responsible for transporting prisoners, running the witness protection program and finding fugitives.
In a letter to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), Kocoras asked that the Marshals Service commit in writing to meet explicit standards for judicial security.
"If things aren't delineated expressly . . . sometimes they don't get done," Kocoras said in an interview.
Even before the Lefkow slayings put the Marshals Service in the spotlight, the agency had been tarnished by negative reports by the Justice Department's inspector general.
In the most recent of such findings, released Monday, Inspector General Glenn Fine found that the marshals failed to adequately vet guards hired on a contract basis to help transport prisoners.
The Marshals Service hired more than 2,700 part-time guards for prisoner transport duty in 2003, augmenting its regular workforce of 3,350 deputy marshals.
Marshals Service spokesman Dave Turner said the agency has agreed to begin changes proposed by the inspector general.
----------
azajac@tribune.com
Copyright © 2005, Chicago Tribune
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0505170025may17,1,5787818.story?coll=chi-newsnationworld-hed
posted by JimG at 9:02 PM
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