Adams County Justice Court Judge Charlie Vess doesn’t think judges should pick up a gun &8220;willy nilly.&8221;

But he does believe all judges have a right to arm themselves, and it’s a case he’s been arguing for the past 10 years.

So many of us were shocked on Friday when the defendant in an Atlanta rape trial was able to take a guard’s gun and shoot and kill a judge, court reporter and deputy before making it to the streets to continue his crime spree.

When it was over on Saturday morning, suspect Brian Nichols had killed a customs agent, stolen several cars, beaten a reporter and held a woman hostage until she was able to get away and call police.

The whole event was covered live by all of the networks, and judges and court personnel in the Miss-Lou and most likely everywhere else were as stunned as the rest of us.

Stunned by the extent tragedy, but perhaps not surprised something like this could happen.

Just as Nichols’ crime spree did, the killing two weeks ago of a federal judge’s husband and mother turned a spotlight on the dangers of the courtroom.

It’s a reality judges have always lived with. Recent cases of violence involving judges include:

4In 1989, federal Judge Robert Vance was killed when he opened a bomb-laden package in his home outside Birmingham, Ala. His wife was injured but survived. Walter Leroy Moody Jr. was convicted in the case; he had sent mail bombs to Vance and to a black civil rights lawyer, Robert Robinson, because he was angry that a 1972 conviction for possessing a pipe bomb had not been overturned.

4In 1987 here in Mississippi, Judge Vincent Sherry and his wife Margaret, a former Biloxi city councilwoman and mayoral contender, were murdered in their home. A former mayor of Biloxi, Pete Halat, and three others were later convicted as part of a racketeering organization that arranged for their contract murders.

Nothing quite so dramatic has happened in Adams County or Concordia Parish, but there is probably a lot more violence in the courtroom &045; and threats that result from trials &045; than any of us realize.

Vess once got a call from the Natchez Community Hospital emergency room; a woman being treated there had been a defendant in his courtroom not long before. She so credibly threatened to kill him that hospital personnel called Vess while he was on the bench to let him know.

Fights break out in the courtroom, often not in criminal cases but in domestic cases, said Louisiana Judge Kathy Johnson.

Vess carries a gun almost all the time; he’s trained well to use it. For most of the time he’s been on the bench he’s been pushing the Mississippi Legislature to pass a law that allows justice court judges to carry concealed weapons; all other judges in the state are allowed.

Meanwhile, both sheriffs have already said they will look at better courthouse security. Adams County Sheriff Ronny Brown has been trying for several weeks to get more money from supervisors to pay for additional deputies at the courthouse.

Perhaps we will learn a lesson from these recent tragedies and look at court security now, before anything happens here in the Miss-Lou.

Kerry Whipple

is editor of The Democrat. She can be reached at 601-445-3541 or by e-mail at

kerry.whipple@natchezdemocrat.com

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