« Pump it | Main | Name game »
December 12, 2006
Judges packing heat
I can't say that I'm surprised to hear this; rumor has it that judges in my county have been packing heat for decades. According to local lore, one retired jurist held the distinction of having been the only member of the bench to have killed a crook, although it was in a previous career as an FBI special agent.
Despite increased security at courthouses following shootings in Chicago and Atlanta about one year ago, many judges are bringing their own guns into their courtrooms for protection.
In May, a judicial ethics committee of the New York State Unified Court System found that it was ethical for a judge to carry a pistol into his courtroom.
In Nevada, Oklahoma and Texas, incidences of violence in the past year have prompted new laws or solidified rules allowing judges to bring guns into courtrooms.
"Judges in our courthouse have been carrying guns almost all the time," said Cynthia Stevens Kent, a Texas judge in the 114th District Court, where a man in a family law case killed his ex-wife and son last year on the steps of a Tyler courthouse.
"We feel strongly about providing adequate security, but it comes down to personal responsibility. And you've got to take responsibility for your own safety," Kent said.
Security concerns were raised last year after a rape suspect grabbed a deputy's gun and killed an Atlanta judge and others. One month earlier, a litigant had killed the husband and mother of a Chicago federal judge who ruled against him.
Some states allow judges to arm themselves.
In June, a man shot the Nevada judge overseeing his divorce case through the window of his courtroom. Chuck Weller, a judge in the Nevada 2nd Judicial District Court in Reno, who survived the incident, said that judges in Nevada are allowed to carry weapons into the courtroom if they obtain permission from the chief judge.
He declined to say whether he keeps a gun in his courtroom, but noted, "I'm not opposed to it at all. The culture in the community I live accepts firearms."
The shooting prompted U.S. Senator Harry Reid, D-Nev., to introduce legislation to enhance security at both state and federal courthouses.
[...]
In Texas, which permits state judges to carry concealed handguns into courtrooms, a new law became effective that expands that right to include federal judges and district attorneys. The law followed the Tyler shooting.
"We believe each judge should be able to make sure he has a system of self-defense," said Kent, who wears a shoulder harness and carries a gun at all times. "One of our biggest areas of target is when we're in the court making decisions."
In May, New York's Advisory Committee on Judicial Ethics issued an opinion that found it ethical for a judge to carry a pistol while on the bench.
In Florida, where Bay County Judge Michael Hauversburk recently threatened a defense attorney with his handgun, state law permits concealed weapons. But a bill that died last year would have specifically allowed judges to bring concealed firearms into courtrooms. Similar bills were introduced and failed last year in North Carolina and Illinois.
On Jan. 1, Kansas plans to permit judges and whomever they designate to carry concealed firearms in the courtroom. Phillip Journey, the state senator who authored the bill and a practicing attorney, said he spent a decade seeking to overturn a blanket prohibition on firearms in the courthouse.
"If I had a judge's permission, I'd do it every day," he said of bringing a gun into the courtroom. "Guns are like lawyers: Better to have one and not need it than need one and not have it."
I like that Texas recognizes that prosecutors are especially trustworthy; in my neck of the woods, DAs stand in line with defendants to enter the courthouse, lifting hands in the air and turning in circles per the barked commands of the rent-a-cops checking for contraband.
There was some talk of exempting DAs from the searches, seeing as how they presented little (read NO) risk to public safety, but the reactionary but-it-wouldn't-be-fair brigades sprang into action: Zut alors! 'Ow can we exempt ze prosecootors, an' not ze mem'bairs of ze d'fenz bar?
Well, my knee-jerk beret-wearing friend, when was the last time you heard of a DA smuggling drugs into the jail for an inmate? Or having a torrid adults-only retelling of Humpty Dumpty while ostensibly (ahem) discussing defense strategy in a jail interview room with an inmate?
While judges, elected officials and newly-hired peace officers bypass the metal detectors and wand-wielding indeterminate-gendered securi-trolls, thirty-year prosecutors meekly lift the cuff of their pants to expose their pale legs before shuffling toward the elevators, in the courthouse equivalent of strip-searching the granny at the airport, while the six sweaty swarthy types with the "I heart Bin Laden" t-shirts breeze through as their shoelaces smoke and sizzle.
We wouldn't want to pay extra attention to the -- what do you call them? -- oh, right, the CROOKS, would ya?
Sigh.
Did you notice that the courthouse killings last year were done after the bad guy wrestled the gun away from a bailiff? The killer murdered more people once he escaped the courthouse; good thing there weren't any armed judges or DAs around to maybe -- just maybe -- put an end to his spree before he hit the streets.
Of course, we'll never see a common-sense approach taken with courthouse security in California, so long as the judges and the pols don't have to stand in line with the plebs.
Posted by Mike Lief at December 12, 2006 12:25 PM
| TrackBack
Comments
Another point: Probation officers, who make a sentencing recommendation get to carry their guns to and fro, but the DA who argues in court for a stricter sentence or higher bail is left to fend for themselves while walking through the parking lot, directly past the door where the newly released inmates exit.
All the while, the armed judges can relax as they walk to their vehicles parked in the gated security parking.
Posted by: Thin Ice, Sr. at December 14, 2006 06:04 AM