Administrative Law Judges Face More Threats Over Disability, Immigration Issues

Washington Post: Being an administrative law judge can be nerve-racking. According to information released Monday by the Association of Administrative Law Judges and the National Association of Immigration Judges, federal employees who handle Social Security disability claims and immigration hearings have been the target of a "wave of threats." Citing data collected by the Social Security Administration's Office of Disability Adjudication and Review, "between March and August of last year, 28 violent threats were reported on Social Security offices that handle disability hearings and in the same period nine individual judges who hear disability claims were threatened," the judges' organizations reported. "From September of last year through February 2010, 21 threats were recorded against SSA hearing offices and 11 threats were directed at judges. Threats to the wives and children of judges also have been reported." During a National Press Club briefing, Randall Frye, president of the Association of Administrative Law Judges, and Dana Leigh Marks, president of the National Association of Immigration Judges, also released a set of recommendations to improve security.