Kin Slay Judge Back On Bench

A federal judge has made a low-key return to the bench, just months after the murders of her husband and mother by a disgruntled litigant.

U.S. District Judge Joan Humphrey Lefkow had vowed she would continue working despite the Feb. 28 shootings at her Chicago home, committed by a man upset with her decision to dismiss his medical malpractice lawsuit. Bart Ross, an unemployed Chicago electrician, confessed to the murders in a suicide note.

Lefkow appeared relaxed in court where she presided over several routine civil cases Tuesday. She plans to work on a limited basis over the next several months before returning full time in the fall, said U.S. District Chief Judge Charles Kocoras.

A notice posted on the door of her courtroom thanked people for their sympathy and asked them to refrain from mentioning the deaths during court proceedings.

"She didn't want a lot of fanfare," said Michael Dooley, Lefkow's deputy. "She appreciates everyone's concern, but in the courtroom she wants to stick to business."

In May, Lefkow testified at a congressional hearing about judicial security, asking lawmakers to "publicly and persistently repudiate gratuitous attacks on the judiciary." She also called on Congress to increase funding for the U.S. Marshals Service and to consider legislation to ban putting personal information about judges and other government officials on the Internet without their permission.

Lefkow has been under 24-hour protection from the Marshals Service since the slayings. Three marshals stood by the courtroom entrances Tuesday.

Lefkow discovered the bodies of her husband and mother in the basement of the couple's home. Suspicion immediately turned to a white supremacist who had been convicted of soliciting Lefkow's murder, but police found Ross' note soon after he shot himself to death in Wisconsin in early March.