After attack on Maryland judge, bill brought to protect judiciary members, their families

One Maryland lawmaker is no stranger to attacks on the judiciary. After two incidents, spanning decades and both the personal and professional, state Sen. Paul Corderman, R-Washington/Frederick, introduced a bill this week designed to protect judges and their families.

The legislation allows a current or retired judge or magistrate to request certain personal information such as a judge’s home address or telephone number be removed or not published in public record.

“It comes down to showing the families of our judicial officers that we care about them,” said Corderman, during an interview in his Senate office in Annapolis on Wednesday afternoon after testifying before the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee and the House Judiciary Committee.

For Corderman, whose dad was a circuit court judge in Washington County who lived through an attack in 1989, that care was shown in more than the legislation he introduced on Wednesday. He showed the family of Washington County Circuit Court Judge Andrew Wilkinson to the various committee rooms and buildings, including a private meeting with Gov. Wes Moore.

Wife of late Judge Andrew Wilkinson speaks in Annapolis

Stephanie Wilkinson, the widow of Judge Wilkinson, who was killed outside their home last year after issuing a decision in the gunman’s child custody case, came to the state capital with her two children to testify in support of the bill named after her late husband.

“My family is the victim of an attack on the cornerstone of our country, our judicial process,” she told the Senate Judiciary Proceedings Committee. She asked the committee members for their support of the bill. “By doing so,” she said, “you will be showing my children, and the children Drew saved that day in this domestic case, that he did not die in vain.”

During the hearing, the committee chair, Sen. William Smith, Jr., D-Montgomery, said the legislation is “a priority for our committee.” As Corderman noted afterwards: “You could hear a pin drop when (Wilkinson) spoke.”

More: Maryland legislative preview: What are top public safety priorities in 2024?

“You could feel in the hearings, in the rooms both of the House and the Senate,” he said, “how touched everyone was today.”

In an interview outside the House Judiciary Committee room after testifying for a second time in one afternoon, Wilkinson said she could not thank the community enough for their support.

“They have been amazing in trying to reach out to my family to share their support to us,” she said. “People from all over the country have reached out to share their condolences.”

One of those individuals from Washington County in Annapolis on Wednesday was Administrative Judge Brett R. Wilson, a former state delegate turned judge who worked with Judge Wilkinson.

“It is important for me to be here to represent the courthouse where he served,” said Wilson, “to be here hopefully representing how much I respect his respect for the law.”

Attacks on judges have increased in recent years

Supreme Court of Maryland Chief Justice Matthew Fader also testified during the hearings. He said he tells new judges that the “rule of law protects each every citizen in this state.”

“I then tell them that they, as judges, now protect the rule of law,” he told the House Judiciary Committee. He also said that the bill includes the creation of a task force on judicial security.

A report from Bloomberg Law with data from a public records request from the U.S. Marshals Service, the agency tasked with protecting judges, showed that the number of substantiated threats against federal judges increased in recent years from 178 in 2019 to 311 in 2022. The proposed legislation would allow information for federal and state judges like deeds and land records to be kept private.

Del. William Valentine, R-Washington/Frederick, and Sen. Mike McKay, R-Garrett/Allegany/Washington, were both in attendance on the committees where the hearings took place.

Republican Dels. William Wivell and Terry Baker, and Democrat Del. Brooke Grossman, who each represent parts of Washington County, sat together in the second row of the bill hearing in the House committee room.

Dwight A. Weingarten is an investigative reporter, covering the Maryland State House and state issues. He can be reached at dweingarten@gannett.com or on Twitter at @DwightWeingart2.

This article originally appeared on Salisbury Daily Times: Maryland bill introduced to protect judiciary members, their families