The ABC7 I-Team has learned U.S. District Court judges for the Northern District of Illinois have recently been given GPS enabled panic buttons that can alert authorities to the holder's position, in case of an emergency.
And in McHenry County, a $38,000 contract was approved last month with an internet firm tasked to scrub or remove personally identifiable information of their judges off the internet.
From the highest levels of the judiciary, there have been stark warnings of judges under threat. They are warnings that have led to communities in Chicago and beyond taking action to protect leaders of the courts in ways never seen before.
If justice is blind, frustration, hatred and politicization have 20/20 vision.
For the 22nd Judicial Circuit in northwest suburban McHenry County, Trial Court Administrator James Wallis has seen those threats up close.
"The judicial officers in McHenry County and across the state need to be able to do their job without fear of any reprisal or repercussions from upset litigants that are trying to do harm or have some kind of undue influence," Wallis said.
That's why Wallis and other McHenry County officials felt they had to act, hiring the firm IronWall to remove personally identifiable information on their judges from the internet.
"Members of the judiciary are increasingly being targeted by malicious online actors who harvest and distribute personally identifiable information (PII), placing judges and their families at significant risk," McHenry County officials wrote in their resolution approving the contract. "National incidents have demonstrated the real and growing threat to judicial officers, including targeted harassment, doxxing, and attempted violence."
The technology will be used for 19 judicial officers and key court personnel in McHenry County, including Chief Judge Michael Feetterer.
"Over the last 20 years, it seems to me that the rhetoric, the temperature in the room has gone up quite a few degrees," Feetterer told the I-Team. "We're going to get our share of criticism, and we readily accept that. That's part of the job."
Feetterer continued, "But I think a line is crossed when judges' safety and the safety of their family is being jeopardized."
Alarming numbers from the U.S. Marshals Service reviewed by the I-Team show that line has been crossed at an frightening rate nationwide.
In his 2024 Year End Report, U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice Roberts stated the volume of hostile threats and communications directed at judges has more than tripled over the past decade.
"There has been a significant uptick in identified threats at all levels of the judiciary," the report notes.
In the past five years alone, the report notes that the U.S. Marshals have investigated more than 1,000 serious threats against federal judges, forcing some jurisdictions to take a multi-pronged approach to safety.
Like in the Northern District of Illinois, where the I-Team has learned panic buttons that can be worn or kept in a bag are being distributed to District Court Judges.
The I-Team reported on the surge in use of this type of technology earlier this year, from corporate executives, to church leaders, and now, government officials.
Former U.S. Secret Service agent and ABC7 Law Enforcement Expert Derrek Mayer said the technology isn't new, but it is being deployed more often in recent years.
"They can hit their panic button, and we can respond to them," Mayer said. "So not only do you see that in the government world with public officials, but you're also seeing it in the private sector with c-suite members and other employees in the private world after the United Health Care assassination in December of 2024."
In a written statement to the I-Team, Chief Judge Virginia Kendall acknowledged the threat environment.
"Threats to the safety and lives of federal judges have increased significantly in recent years," Kendall said.
Kendall noted that these kinds of threats have required the assignment of full-time U.S. Marshals Service security details for federal judges.
Nationwide, approximately fifty individuals have been criminally charged for making threats against judges, Kendall told the I-Team.
"While the Court cannot comment on specific security protocols and measures, I am working closely with the U.S. Marshals Service to take every possible measure to ensure that every judge on this bench can serve without fear of harm or reprisal," Kendall said.