Give 'em Hell, Judge L!!

From the Chicago Tribune:

In citing recent criticisms of federal judges, Lefkow referred to the uproar surrounding Terri Schiavo, the brain-damaged Florida woman who died after a feeding tube was withdrawn from her. Some Republican members of Congress lashed out at judges involved in the case.

"This loss happened because our legal system did not protect the people who need protection most, and that will change,'' House Majority Leader Tom DeLay said. ``The time will come for the men responsible for this to answer for their behavior.''

Robertson, founder of the Christian Coalition and head of the Christian Broadcasting Network, appeared on ABC's "This Week'' earlier this month and criticized the federal courts.

"Over 100 years, I think the gradual erosion of the consensus that's held our country together is probably more serious than a few bearded terrorists who fly into buildings,'' Robertson had said.

In her testimony today, Lefkow said, "Whether liberal or conservative, I have never encountered a judge in the federal judiciary who can remotely be described as posing a threat 'probably more serious than a few bearded terrorists who fly into buildings.'''

Excerpt from the Transcript from Judge Lefkow's testimony in the Senate Judiciary Committee:

Finally, I ask you to publicly and persistently repudiate gratuitous attacks on the judiciary such as the recent statement of Pat Robertson on national television and, unfortunately, of some members of the Congress, albeit in more measured terms. We need your help in tempering the tone of the debates that concern the independence of the judiciary. I have come to know scores of judges during my 22 years as a magistrate judge, bankruptcy judge, and district judge. Whether liberal or conservative, I have never encountered a judge in the federal judiciary who can remotely be described as posing a threat "probably more serious than a few bearded terrorists who fly into buildings." In this age of mass communication, harsh rhetoric is truly dangerous. It seems to me that even though we cannot prove a cause and effect relationship between rhetorical attacks on judges and violent acts of vengeance by a particular litigant, fostering disrespect for judges can only encourage those that are on the edge, or the fringe, to exact revenge on a judge who ruled against them.

Judges do not invite anyone to file a law suit. The cases come to us because the prosecutor, an individual, or a corporation is convinced that the court will protect the rights they believe are granted to them by the Congress and the Constitution. Neither do we choose the issues. I know many judges bu I don't know one who welcomes the responsibility to decide whether a man's heinous crime was a result of inability to understand the nature of his acts, or whether a decision by the next of kin to remove a feeding tube from a living human being should or should not be honored, or whether termination of a collectively bargained pension plan is lawful. We call this winning and losing, but those terms are inadequate. This is never a game. Rather, cases such as these entail enormous consequences for the individuals involved. Emotions can be powerful in these situations.