AUSTIN, Texas (AP) - Texas Supreme Court Chief Justice Nathan Hecht asked lawmakers Wednesday to pass legislation to improve security for judges, citing a state judge who was shot and wounded outside her Austin home in 2015.
In his biennial State of the Judiciary address before a joint session of the Legislature, Hecht highlighted the shooting of Judge Julie Kocurek, who was targeted by a gunman in November 2015, to call for passage of a Senate bill with security upgrades for judges and courthouses.
Kocurek has said publicly that she doesn’t believe authorities appropriately handled a tip from an informant about a judge being targeted, and Travis County officials have approved a $500,000 payment to Kocurek to avoid a potential lawsuit claiming authorities didn’t do enough to prevent the shooting. Kocurek suffered several shrapnel wounds and didn’t return to the bench until February last year.
Hecht said he met with Kocurek and was impressed by her mettle to return to work.
“If she left the bench people would think you can threaten a judge and scare her off, maybe scare off other judges, intimidate them, show that justice cannot stand up to violence,” he said. “She would prove that judges sworn to preserve, protect, and defend the constitution would not cower in the face of lawlessness.”
Federal officials in September charged three men in the shooting. One of the men, Chimene Onyeri, had a hearing scheduled in Kocurek’s court where it was anticipated his probation would be revoked and he faced imprisonment. Onyeri has denied any involvement in the shooting, though investigators have said that Onyeri’s scheduled appearance in Kocurek’s court is a possible motive.
Following the attack, a study by the state Office of Court Administration found that hundreds of Texas judges believe security measures currently in place to protect them and courthouse staff are lackluster. Hecht appointed a permanent committee to study security and to issue recommendations based on that study.
The results have been incorporated into the Senate bill that Hecht called on lawmakers to pass. It includes increasing funding for courthouse security, providing security training for judges, appointing a director to assist judges and county officials with security needs and removing the home addresses of judges from personal financial statements filed with the state.
“Every threat must be taken seriously,” Hecht said, encouraging lawmakers to ceremonially name the measure after Kocurek.
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