US judges reveal panic buttons, private security in chilling new reports about threats
Studies based on testimony from 67 judges say threats have risen 57%, prompting private security, safe rooms and other protections.
- Two new studies from New York University, the University of California, Berkeley, and The Brennan Center reveal federal judges face a barrage of threats, forcing them to vary commutes and hire private security.
- Security incidents of significant concern increased 57% in the year ending September 2025, and threats are on pace to rise again this year, according to a March report by the agency administering the U.S. court system.
- Judges reported extreme stress, with one receiving more than 700 threatening calls after a Trump administration immigration case and another considering an alternative ruling to protect family.
- District Judge Esther Salas, whose son Daniel Anderl was killed in 2020 by a litigant, told The Associated Press Tuesday that political rhetoric has intensified her fear for judicial safety.
- The NYU-Berkeley report calls for increased funding for judicial security, new efforts to protect judges' personal information, and more prosecutions of people making threats to address the rising danger.
22 Articles
22 Articles
U.S. judges reveal panic buttons, private security in chilling new reports about threats
Federal judges have varied their commutes, hired private security and fortified their homes, including with panic buttons, amid a barrage of threats and harassment in recent months that has left many of them anxious about their safety, according to two new studies.
US judges reveal panic buttons, private security in chilling new repor
FILE - News media is set up in front of the home of U.S. District Judge Esther Salas in North Brunswick, N.J., on Monday, July 20, 2020, after a gunman posing as a delivery person shot and killed Salas' 20-year-old son and wounded her husband Sunday evening. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File)
Associated Press News
US judges reveal panic buttons, private security in chilling new reports about threats
Two new studies provide chilling testimony about the spike in threats against federal judges. In the reports released Monday, U.S. judges told the authors they have varied their commutes, hired private security and fortified their homes in recent months, including by installing panic buttons.
US judges reveal panic buttons, private security in chilling new reports about threats - The Business Journal Federal Judges Fortify Homes Amid Surge in Threats and Harassment
Federal judges have varied their commutes, hired private security and fortified their homes, including with panic buttons, amid a barrage The post US judges reveal panic buttons, private security in chilling new reports about threats appeared first on The Business Journal.
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