WASHINGTON,
D.C. – Following the tragic murders of U.S. federal Judge’s Joan Lefkow’s
family in U.S. Representative Jan Schakowsky’s (D-IL) Congressional District,
Schakowsky today called on President Bush to work with Congress to increase
funding for Judicial Protective Services (JPS).
In
a letter to Bush, Schakowsky wrote: “Our initial discussions with the Department
of Justice and its components, indicate that to fully perform the variety
of missions for which it is tasked, including judicial protection, additional
funding is immediately required. It has become evident that, based
upon an increasing workload, the U.S. Marshall Service has only 75% of
the staff needed to complete its mission.”
She
continued in the letter, “It is clear then that the protection of the judiciary
requires additional personnel and fiscal resources to ensure the safety
of federal judges. Your FY06 budget proposes $485,910,000 for JPS,
only a $7,388,000 increase over FY05. That is an insufficient budget
allocation to ensure the safety of our judiciary. This is an urgent
homeland security matter. Federal judges all over the country are
in need of protection from terrorism, both foreign and domestic.”
“To
Judge Lefkow and her family, I offer my deepest condolences in this difficult
time. I am hopeful that the Chicago Police Department and federal
authorities will bring to justice those murderous criminals who committed
this heinous crime. I will work with my colleagues in Congress and
President Bush to ensure that our law enforcement agencies have the resources
that they need to protect our judges so that no other family would have
to suffer the pain of such a tragedy,” Schakowsky said.
According
to the U.S. Marshals Service website: "In recent years, there has been
a dramatic increase in the number of threats against members of the judiciary,
U.S. attorneys and other court officers. Explicit threats against the judiciary
are assessed by court security inspectors to determine the level of danger.
On average, about 700 threats/inappropriate communications against judicial
members are logged each year - many of which result in round-the-clock
protective details."
The
full text of the letter is below:
March
3, 2005
President
George W. Bush
President
of the United States
The
White House
1600
Pennsylvania Ave., NW
Washington,
DC 20500
Dear
President Bush:
Following the horrific murder of Michael F. Lefkow and Donna G. Humphrey,
husband and mother of U.S. District Judge Joan H. Lefkow, I am writing
to request that the White House immediately address the urgent need for
additional funding to the Judicial Protective Services (JPS) branch of
the U.S. Marshall Service.
Our initial discussions with the Department of Justice and its components,
indicate that to fully perform the variety of missions for which it is
tasked, including judicial protection, additional funding is immediately
required. It has become evident that, based upon an increasing workload,
the U.S. Marshall Service has only 75% of the staff needed to complete
its mission.
It is clear then that the protection of the judiciary requires additional
personnel and fiscal resources to ensure the safety of federal judges.
Your FY06 budget proposes $485,910,000 for JPS, only a $7,388,000 increase
over FY05. That is an insufficient budget allocation to ensure the
safety of our judiciary. This is an urgent homeland security matter.
Federal judges all over the country are in need of protection from terrorism,
both foreign and domestic. Your current budget request is not sufficient
to place additional U.S. Marshals on the street or compensate for the need
of overtime pay.
Mr. President, no federal judge should live and work in fear or fear for
the safety of their families. An independent judiciary demands that
and is critical to our democracy. I hope that you will publicly call
on Congress to increase appropriations to the U.S. Marshall Service in
order for it to perform its core missions more effectively. I look
forward to working with you and my colleagues in Congress to immediately
provide additional protection to our federal judges.
Sincerely,
Janice D. Schakowsky
Member of Congress |