Check out this article from USA TODAY:
Attorney Roy Den Hollander identified as ‘primary suspect’ in shooting at federal judge Esther Salas’ home: What we know
This morning I woke up to news story and it really scared the crap out of me. The news of the last five months has been scary. The idea catching a deadly virus or living through a complete economic collapse is really frightening. Hearing about it day after day along with news commentary leads to anxiety and depression. However for me this news story hit a particular chord. The idea of somebody dressing up like a Federal Express Deichert person, finding a judge’s house and shooting her family, killing her son in cold blood was chilling. it’s hard to think that this kind of targeted violence would come to judge’s house, much less a Federal District Court judge.
Federal judges handle some very high level stuff. many of the criminal cases they handle involve large scale drug trafficking, money laundering, organized crime and terrorist organizations. They deal with some of the most notorious criminals who can end up spending decades in prison. One of the cases that Judge Esther Salas was handing involved Deutsche Bank and Jeffrey Epstein. These are the kind of cases that involve people who would hire someone to eliminate someone, like a judge, who would be a problem. I would have thought that Federal Judges would have security, even at their home. But in reality judges, even Federal judges, live normal lives with children, and spouses that have fairly normal jobs.
I serve in Cherokee County as a part-time Magistrate. While I do not preside over large racketeering cases involving millions of dollars, I do issue arrest warrants, hear cases involving bonds and ultimately put people in jail. At first appearance I hear cases of people who are in jail and decide if they will get out. Sometimes I decide that those people are denied bond and will not get out of jail. Those pope are usually not happy. I have always had a small amount of fear that I might encounter the friends or family members that I keep in jail on my way out to my car late at night. It’s never happened so far and I hope it never will.
Still, a couple of weeks ago one of the police agencies gave my personal cell phone out to father of a man who was supposed to have a hearing in front of of me later that day. For the most part I was concerned about the potential ex-parte communication about the case and quickly got the man off the phone, Nonetheless, there was a certain amount of concern for security. The same list that goes out to police with my cell phone number also has my home address. What would happen if this guy was angry and decided to show up my house at 6:00 a.m. instead of just call?
However the more the story unfolded, it turns out that a lawyer who has appeared in front of Judge Salas before. This is a guy who was a self described “anti-feminist”. Supposedly this guy had lost a case in front of Judge Salas and he was so angry that he went to her house to do violence. He shot her son and her husband. For what reason? Because he was incensed that woman judge dare rule against him? Then this guy went home and shot himself. Clearly, this is a case of mental illness that went unchecked.
Since the CoVid quarantine started, many lawyers are working from home and no longer have those interactions with other people at the office, the courthouse or even the lunch counter. It’s easy to get isolated when you just are not connected to other people. In the practice of law there is a lot of pressure to win cases and it can be pretty devestating to lose a case you put your heart and soul into. That is where having a support network of co-workers and colleagues there to provide support and help move on. While this lawyer who shot Judge Salas is pretty extreme it exemplifies a need in the legal community.
Lawyers need to check in on each other to see how they are doing. While some lawyers are thriving during this Corona Virus Crisis but others are shut in and are not doing well. Some have lost their jobs at large law firms while some sole practitioners have had to shut down their practice due to the lack of paying clients and closed courthouses. Apart form the economic issues, some people do poorly when they are at home alone and do not interact with others on a regular basis. Some are trapped at home with people who they have gotten tired of over the last four months. However, the practice of law is a something of a family. Nobody understands the stress of the practice of law like other lawyers do. We need to look after each other.
CantonLawyer 