EMK calls out "venomous incitement from Republican members of Congress..."

[paineinthearse]

http://kennedy.senate.gov/~kennedy/index_high.html

May 18, 2005

STATEMENT BY SENATOR EDWARD M. KENNEDY ON COURTHOUSE SECURITY
(As Prepared for Delivery)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Laura Capps/Melissa Wagoner [phone]

Congress recently provided nearly 12 million dollars to remedy a crisis in off-site judicial security for our federal judges. The bill was a small, but necessary step toward increasing security for the distinguished men and women of our country who have been appointed to the courts. In the wake of the recent murder of a husband and mother of a federal judge at her home in Chicago, and the courtroom killings in Atlanta, it is clear we must do more to protect our judges as a matter of the highest urgency.

These tragic recent deaths demonstrate that judges may be safe inside the walls of our well-guarded courthouses, but they are vulnerable to disgruntled litigants in other places, even in their own homes. In fact, security in the homes of judges has long been a concern of the Judicial Conference, the principal decision-making group for the federal courts. Sadly, three judges had previously been killed at in their homes: one in Texas in 1979; one in New York in 1988; and one in Alabama in 1989.

The vast majority of threats are made by people angry about the outcome of a case in court. In the ten years since the first world trade center bombing, the federal judiciary has handled an increasing number of high threat matters.

Judge Lefkow was the victim of an act of domestic terrorism arising from what should have been a routine civil matter. The leader of a White Supremacist group known as the World Church of the Creator, was convicted in April 2004 of soliciting an undercover FBI informant to murder the judge in retaliation for her decision against him in a trademark dispute. This brutal crime demonstrates the unstable environment in which our federal judges decide cases everyday.

Shockingly, the risks faced by the honorable men and women who fill our independent judiciary have dramatically increased in the past two months. The source of that increased risk has not been Al Qaeda, White Supremacists, drug gangs, or mentally ill litigants. Instead, judges are at greater risk of being victimized today than four weeks ago due to venomous incitement from Republican members of Congress and their right wing, extremist surrogates.

The comments are deplorable. House Republican Leader Tom DeLay has threatened the judges who participated in the Terri Schiavo proceedings, saying: the time will come for the men responsible for this to answer for their behavior." His colleague, Republican Congressman Steve King said that he intends to introduce legislation to bring the courts back to heel, "maybe by removing their feeding tubes" -- a grisly reference to the death of Terri Schiavo.

A recent conference, "Confronting the Judicial War on Faith," was attended by leaders of the Republican Party. Ominously, one of the speakers, Edwin Vieira, said that his bottom line for dealing with the Supreme Court comes from Joseph Stalin. Vieira said: "He had a slogan, and it worked very well for him, whenever he ran into difficulty: 'no man, no problem.' Of course, Stalin's full comment, which Vieira undoubtedly knew, was "Death solves all problems: no man, no problem." Vieira's comments were made in reference to Reagan appointee Justice Anthony Kennedy.

Reckless, irresponsible comments like these create a culture where threats of violence become acceptable. It is not merely a coarsening of discourse; it is a numbing of sensibility. The attacks on the judiciary and the veiled threats of violence can easily lead to further tragedy, and we need to do all we can to prevent it.

Federal judges deserve to be secure in their homes. They need to know that concrete steps are being taken immediately to reduce the risk of violence to them and their families. We need to stand up for our independent judiciary and do a better job of providing for their security.

[beaconess]

1. Today, Frist accused Dems of trying "kill, to defeat, to assassinate"

the filibustered nominees. Outrageous.

Durbin called on him to withdraw his comments - of course, he hasn't.

[paineinthearse]

2. Perhaps people are not reacting because subject line says "EMK"

...and that is not a well-known "tla".

:shrug:

psssssttttt...Edward Moore Kennedy.

[paineinthearse]

3. For all watching today's speach live

Here is yesterday's speech.