The Congress endangers the security of federal judges at a time when threats against judicial leaders are on the rise, warned the American judicial power.
The federal judiciary announced on Friday that a deficit in the financing of the congress this year is hindering the capacity of the judicial branch to maintain the security of the courthouse within the framework of the increase in threats to the American judges.
The secretary of the judicial conference, judge Robert J. Conrad Jr. and judge Amy J. St. Eve, president of the Conference Budget Committee, made the alarm in a letter last week to the members of the Congress sitting on the Committee of Credits of the Chamber and the Senate.
“We have important concerns about our ability to properly guarantee federal courts given the current resource levels,” wrote Conrad and St. Eve in the letter of April 10.
The latest Congress credits left the judiciary with a budget of $ 8.6 billion for the financial year 2025 – $ 391 million less than the judicial conference requested last year.
Consequently, the American judiciary said that many accounts of the judicial branch are frozen for a second consecutive year, leaving them to operate at the level of the 2023.
Funding in court security remains stagnating at $ 750 million, he said.
“Consecreen years of flat security financing occur at a time when threats against federal judges and courthouses were arguing, which makes this situation unbearable in the current environment,” wrote Conrad and St. Eve in the letter.
The representatives of the members of the Congress to whom the letter was sent did not immediately respond to a request for comments.
The letter underlined the chief year -old report of the American Supreme Court John Roberts on the federal judiciary, in which he declared that there had been a significant increase in threats to the courts.
Roberts has written at the time that over the past five years, US Marshals Service had investigated more than 1,000 serious threats against federal judges.
“Some of these threats required additional security measures by the US Marshals Service, and about 50 people have been criminally charged with threats,” said Conrad and St. Eve to members of the Congress.
The letter indicates that currently, 67 judges involved in high -level cases receive “improved online security screening services” provided by the administrative office of the American courts and the marshal service.
“In extreme cases, the American service of marshals was required to take extraordinary measures to ensure the safety of judges,” wrote Conrad and St. Eve. They said they are also concerned about the impact of job frosts and endowment losses in the Marshals and General Services Administration on the security palace.
In addition, Conrad and St. Eve declared that the program of services of defenders of power and the salaries of the judicial personnel had also been very underfunded.
The judiciary should submit its budget request for the year 2026 this month, and Conrad and St. Eve have written that “the adequate funding of this request will be essential to mitigate the negative impacts” of the recent budgetary gaps.
businessinsider
