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Protecting Your Privacy in Law and the Judiciary

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published February 26, 2007

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( 3 votes, average: 3.3 out of 5)
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Although the number of incidents of identity fraud has dropped from 10.1 million in 2003 to 8.9 million in 2006, the fraud amount per victim is on the rise. According to a survey conducted by Javelin Strategy and Research and the Better Business Bureau in January 2006, the mean fraud amount per victim has risen from $5,249 in 2003 to $6,383 in 2006.

In February 2005, judges everywhere were reminded of the serious dangers associated with threats to their privacy when the husband and mother of a federal judge in Chicago were found dead in their home. Judge Joan Humphrey Lefkow was handed a case involving a high-profile trademark-infringement case against the World Church of the Creator, an organization run by white supremacist leader Matthew F. Hale, in May 2000. Once the case concluded against the favor of Hale, he was caught in a murder plot by an undercover FBI agent who had posed as a source for Humphrey Lefkow's personal information. After describing her "extermination" details and his plot to kill Humphrey Lefkow, Hale was arrested in 2003 and later sentenced to 40 years in prison.


On the evening of February 28, 2005, Humphrey Lefkow arrived home to find her husband, Michael F. Lefkow, 64, and her mother, Donna Humphrey, 89, shot dead in her basement. Less than a month later, Bart Ross, a plaintiff in a medical malpractice case that Humphrey Lefkow had dismissed, admitted to the murders of her husband and mother in a suicide note discovered after he killed himself.

The deaths of Humphrey Lefkow's loved ones triggered a new kind of fear among employees of the law and judiciary systems. Within months of the tragedy, she testified before the U.S. Congress on the problem of providing security for judges.

Since her plea before Congress and in response to the rise in severity of privacy-invasion cases, the Chicago Bar Association (CBA) and the Center for Information Technology and Privacy Law at John Marshall Law School have developed Protecting Your Personal Privacy, a 20-page booklet designed to help judges and other legal professionals keep their personal lives hidden from the mass public.

"We found that there was no real guidance out there that would allow judges to proactively protect their privacy. Our approach (in developing the booklet) was how to keep the information from getting into the public domain in the first place, rather than legislating and criminalizing the disclosure of information," said the booklet's chief author, Leslie Ann Reis, Director of the Center for Information Technology and Privacy Law at John Marshall Law School.

President of the CBA Kevin Durkin commented, "Security for the men and women who serve as state and federal court judges is of paramount importance to America's justice system."

The booklet contains easy-to-read-and-understand boxes and bullets of information and tips for staying low-key. The advice is broken down into sections concerning general tips and precautions to be taken at home and while traveling, surfing the Internet, emailing, blogging, or speaking on the phone. It even covers special issues that may concern the safety and privacy of children of judges or lawyers.

Much of the information suggests avoiding sharing any personal information with regard to promotions, warranty cards, online contests, or rewards cards for retailers and grocery stores. Simple slip-ups can result in sharing basic information that can be traced quite easily.

Because studies and surveys show that most personal information is obtained through theft of hard-copy mail (snail mail) or one's wallet or purse, the booklet describes how to eliminate this from possibly happening. Cancelling mailings of hard-copy bank statements and bills and switching to secure online methods can cut down on the amount of sensitive information that can literally sit outside waiting for someone to steal it. It is also wise to refrain from keeping social security cards, birth certificates, and extra credit cards in one's wallet or purse, since they can be at risk for theft.

Protecting Your Personal Privacy identifies many everyday procedures that could result in a loss of privacy that most professionals, no matter what business they are in, overlook. The booklet is a free resource that anyone can get through its publishers, the Chicago Bar Association (CBA) and the Center for Information Technology and Privacy Law at John Marshall Law School.
  1. Legal Jobs
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published February 26, 2007

( 3 votes, average: 3.3 out of 5)
What do you think about this article? Rate it using the stars above and let us know what you think in the comments below.

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