CHICAGO, April 5 (UPI) -- Reeling from the killings of family members of a Chicago federal judge, Illinois' two senators are supporting a $17 million appropriation to protect judges.
Democrats Dick Durbin and Barack Obama in a letter urged Appropriations Committee Chairman Sen. Thad Cochran, R-Miss., and Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., to adopt a request by the Judicial Conference of the United States for $17 million in a supplemental bill to buy and install security systems at the homes of U.S. district judges.
"In the wake of the recent tragic murders of the husband and mother of federal judge Joan Leflow in Chicago, as well as the courtroom killings in Atlanta, it is clear that we must do more as a nation to enhance judicial security," they wrote.
Federal judges currently receive home protection from the U.S. Marshals Service for specific threats.
Lefkow's family members were killed Feb. 28 by a disgruntled cancer survivor whose lawsuit against the University of Illinois Hospitals had been dismissed by Leflow. Bart Ross later committed suicide in a Milwaukee suburb.
