[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 19]
[House]
[Page 25564]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                    PRESERVING OUR SYSTEM OF JUSTICE

  (Mr. PRICE of Georgia asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute.)
  Mr. PRICE of Georgia. Madam Speaker, last March Atlanta experienced 
one of the worst instances of courthouse violence on record. A 
defendant overpowered a courthouse security guard, grabbed her weapon 
and shot a judge dead in his own courtroom. The defendant then escaped, 
setting off a massive manhunt until he was captured a short while 
later.
  Incidents of courthouse violence are spreading. Chicago, Illinois, 
and Tyler, Texas, have also experienced vicious crimes against our 
judicial system. Many States are working to prevent this from happening 
again by improving courthouse security. This is a step in the right 
direction. But we must do more to protect judges, attorneys, jurors, 
and other courthouse employees from ever having to confront this kind 
of danger. We must not allow criminals to compromise our judicial 
system.
  Today we have an opportunity to act to strengthen penalties against 
those who commit courthouse violence and protect Federal judiciary 
employees from falling prey to criminals attacking their personal 
finances.
  Madam Speaker, the Secure Access to Justice and Court Protection Act 
is before us today, and I urge my colleagues to support this important 
initiative to preserve and protect our system of justice.

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