Court and Family Security

HIDING
IN PLAIN SIGHT:

Safety and Security
for Judges and
Their Families

This publication provided as a service to the
judiciary by the Illinois Judges Association
through the work of its Court and Family
Security Committee and the benevolence of the
Illinois Judges Foundation.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction……………………………………….2
Gaining Perspective………………………………..3
Recognizing Risk………………………...………..4
Planning is Key………………………………...….6
Techniques to Manage Risk…………………...……8
The Judicial Privacy Act……………….…...……..10
The Marshal and Your Sheriff………….… ………..11

Introduction

The Illinois Judges Association (“IJA”) was incorporated in 1979
to be an organization for judges. The work of the IJA has evolved
ever since.
More than a decade ago, the IJA staffed a Court Facilities and
Security Committee. Its purpose was to survey court facilities
throughout Illinois at the request of a chief or presiding judge.
Over time, that committee grew into the Court and Family
Security Committee. Our Committee invites you to reflect:
How will your public service affect your and your family’s
security?
Placing concerns about safety into perspective, learning to
recognize potential threats, and managing risk according to your
unique circumstances will place you in a position to effectively
accomplish your public duties with peace of mind. Consider the
information provided here as a starting point in security
education, and please share it with your family. You are
encouraged to educate yourself and use the resources at your
disposal, including those provided through the IJA.

2

Gaining Perspective

You are likely aware of or can easily find
news stories where judges and their
families are targeted. In February of
2005, U.S. District Judge Joan Lefkow
was targeted at her near-north home in
Chicago. She was not home, but her
mother and husband were home and
murdered by a litigant who had received an adverse ruling in a
medical malpractice case. In July of 2020, U.S. District Judge
Esther Salas was targeted at her home in New Jersey. Her son
lost his life and her husband was seriously injured when a shooter,
an attorney who had handled a case before her, came to their
residence posing as a FedEx delivery person. By chance, both of
these incidents involved civil cases the judges were handling.
These events were truly horrific, and yet both of these jurists
continue to serve proudly on the federal bench. Other examples
exist, including: a judge being stalked, a threat to blow up a
judge’s home, shootings of judges on a judge’s driveway and at a
judge’s courthouse.

These incidents can and should serve to caution all judges at every
level with regard to each case he or she may handle. Of course,
other violence is also occurring in the communities where judges
serve. As a practical matter, it may be far more likely for a judge
to be injured in a vehicular accident or through random violence
than it would be for a judge to become a victim of violence
because of the judge’s public service. Placing risk into
perspective allows for healthy vigilance and creates a mental
space for a judge to effectively perform his or her duties. This
perspective should be imparted to those in the judge’s inner
circle as well.

3

Recognizing Risk
-Situational Awareness

Recognizing where and when
risk is present is imperative to
effectively manage risk. As a
public official, you may need
to think about exposure in ways never considered before.
Removing your robe at the end of your work day does not make
you or your family anonymous.

Realizing the many different ways you interact with the public is
one way to begin to understand where you could improve your
family’s security. Consider how your life as a public official
naturally includes exposure to risk:

Do you or your family post personal information or
photos on social media?
Do you receive mail and packages at your home?
Do you ever go out to eat, to the grocery store, or take a
walk in the same community where you serve?
Do you attend public events as part of your campaign
responsibilities?
What child or sport related events do you support?
Do you regularly attend religious services or do volunteer
work?

4

Life itself presents inevitable security vulnerabilities. In all
likelihood, part of what drives you to thrive as a judicial officer
is that you are an active, contributing member in your
community. That involvement need not and should not end.
You simply need to prepare yourself and your family to
participate with a sense of security mindfulness.

“Let us not look back in anger or forward in fear, but
around in awareness.”
-James Thurber

5

Planning is Key

Once you recognize that risk is inevitable, you can
plan how to handle a variety of scenarios before they
occur. Planning is fundamental to placing yourself in
a position to respond appropriately. Thinking through
different scenarios is encouraged.

How should your child respond if someone angrily approaches you
while you are with your family at a local restaurant?
What is your family’s protocol for screening unknown callers or
answering the front door to strangers?
What if you are heckled while alone on your morning run?
Having uncomfortable conversations with your family about
security is necessary. In the same sense that you would talk to
your children about “stranger danger,” talk to them about how to
handle themselves as members of a judge’s family. Educate your
loved ones about your position and its importance in a
democratic society. Encourage them to intelligently handle
situations that could arise.

6

Help your family understand that shouting back at an angry
person is unlikely to defuse a situation. Teach them to be discreet
with personal information. Equip your family with emergency
numbers so that they are able to call for help when needed.
Consider too that security is a dynamic concept. Your
assignment, your case load, and the members of the public who
frequent your courtroom all change with time. Your family
activities and social engagements also evolve and shift. You may
need to sharpen your mental preparedness or take additional
steps to appropriately meet specific security concerns.

We all realize it is impossible to anticipate every situation. But,
preparing for what may arise is one way to stay mentally sharp.
With open lines of communication, tailored to the age and
circumstances of your family, you increase your family’s ability
to respond appropriately.

“By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.”

-Benjamin Franklin

7

Being mentally prepared and maintaining situational awareness
can place you in the best position to respond appropriately. Each
judge’s needs will be slightly different, but methods exist to
manage common risks. Consider the following:
• Communicate respectfully with others both on and off the bench.
• Use a home security system including adequate lighting, and

consider requesting a residential security survey through your
local law enforcement agency.
• Contact the 911 Center in your locality; inquire if your
residence can be flagged as a judge’s home.
• Use antivirus software on your personal devices and verify
before you open messages and attachments.
• Be selective with your use of social media and educate your
family about social media use.
• Establish a guest network for your home Wi-Fi.
• Verify service callers are legitimate before allowing them into
your home.
• Do not reference family or friends while on the bench.
• If you interact with the media as part of your duties, do not
broadcast your personal information.
• Vary your routines, including your route to and from the
courthouse.

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• Travel with a charged cell phone.
• Park in well-lit areas.
• Be mindful of how you identify

yourself; avoid a personalized
license plate or apparel that
highlights your judicial role.
• Coordinate with your Court Security Officer about security
threats and plans.
• Educate yourself about methods to call for security back up in
the courtroom when needed, like panic buttons.
• Find out if there is an established method in your circuit to
notify judges about members of the public who appear
disgruntled.
• Familiarize yourself with the methods used to move those
in custody through the secure hallways of your courthouse.
• Educate yourself about mental illness.
• Learn about the sovereign citizen movement.
• Consider a self-defense class.
• Take advantage of available methods to remove your personal
information from the internet, such as those available through
the Judicial Privacy Act, 705 ILCS 90, et seq.

9

The Judicial Privacy Act (“JPA”)

The JPA was enacted in 2012, following the murders of Judge
Lefkow’s family, in an effort to help protect judges through the
redaction of personal information about a judge and the judge’s
family from certain portions of the public record and internet.

Through the Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts
(“AOIC”) or on a judge’s own initiative, a judge can demand that
the judge’s personally identifying information be removed and
not listed. With the help of the AOIC, notification can be sent
to state and local units of government and the largest 25
information brokers; forms are available through the website of
the Supreme Court of Illinois. The JPA also:

• Permits judges to utilize their work address;

• Provides a private cause of action, with attorneys
fees available, when internet postings are not removed
after demand,; and,

• Contemplates criminal penalties where postings
result in bodily injury or death.

As with any legislation, the Act has limitations and merely acts
as a tool for judges to use. Judges must affirmatively opt in for
JPA protection. The JPA continues to evolve. Judges are
encouraged to read the JPA and watch for updates to the
protections it provides.

10

The Marshal and Your Sheriff

The Marshal of the Supreme Court of Illinois is a constitutional
officer, who provides physical security and protective
intelligence to the Supreme and Appellate Court Justices of
Illinois, and otherwise serves as a resource to judicial officers
throughout the State. “The sheriff is a circuit judge’s first line of
defense,” says Marshal Jim Cimarossa. “We work with sheriffs
and other law enforcement throughout Illinois in a collaborative
effort to help keep judges safe.” By statute, sheriffs are tasked
with security at the circuit court facilities.

To help protect judges, the Marshal
has established and continues to
develop the Court Security
Information System (“CSIS”).
Threats against judges are logged in a
database. This information is used to help keep judges secure.
Judges and others in the court system are encouraged to report
threats to the Marshal at (217) 557-2500 or
[email protected]

Of course, Dial 9-1-1 in case of an emergency.

Thank you . . .

. . . for reading this publication, sharing this information, and serving
the Rule of Law in Illinois . . . . the IJA, April 2, 2022.

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Illinois Judges Association
Hon. Barbara Crowder (Ret.), President
Hon. Eileen O’Neill Burke, 1st Vice President
Hon. David Overstreet, 2nd Vice President
Hon. Mary Colleen Roberts, 3rd Vice President

Hon. Elizabeth Rochford, Secretary
Hon. Patrice Ball Reed, Treasurer
Kathy Hosty, Executive Director
Court and Family Security Committee
Hon. E. Kenneth Wright, Jr., Co-Chair
Hon. Michael J. Chmiel, Co-Chair
Hon. Mark A. VandeWiele, (Ret.), Author
Hon. Jennifer L. Johnson, Editor

Hon. Fredrick H. Bates
Hon. Anna Benjamin
Hon. Mathias W. Delort
Hon. Tyler R. Edmonds
Hon. Joseph Hettel
Hon. Scott Kording
Hon. Sam Limentato
Hon. Clayton Lindsey
Hon. Cory D. Lund
Hon. Amy McFarland
Hon. Stephanie Miller
Hon. Martin P. Moltz
Hon. Susan T. O’Leary
Hon. Susana Ortiz
Hon. William Raines
Hon. Daniel Rippy

Hon. Sarah Smith
Hon. John D. Tourtelot
Jim Cimarrosa, Illinois Supreme Court Marshal, Ex Officio
Dane Cookson, Illinois Supreme Court Marshal, Ex Officio
Don Larson, Illinois Supreme Court Marshal, Ex Officio
Lynn Freer, Illinois Supreme Court Marshal, Ex Officio
Jim Kaitschuk, Executive Director, Illinois Sheriffs Association, Ex Officio
Illinois Judges Foundation
Hon. Patrice Ball-Reed, President
Hon. Brian McKillip (Ret.), Vice President
Hon. Dan Locallo, Treasurer
Hon. April Troemper, Secretary
Kevin Fagan, Executive Director
Illinois Judges Association
321 South Plymouth Court
Chicago, Illinois 60604 www.ija.org

Copyright 2022

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