Judge Is Reassigned After Asking Colleagues to 'Stand in Solidarity' over Lack of Security
A Minnesota judge has been reassigned after refusing to hear cases in three suburban Minneapolis courtrooms because of security concerns.
Judge Lloyd Zimmerman of Hennepin County will be reassigned to family court because it has metal detectors and a judicial vacancy, officials told the Minneapolis Tribune and CBS Minnesota. Zimmerman, however, doesn’t want to give up his civil docket and says the reassignment is “punishment” for speaking out.
Zimmerman is among 12 judges who were rotated to suburban courthouses one week a month. He had emailed other judges asking them to “stand in solidarity” with him, the Minneapolis Tribune reported last week. He said he was particularly concerned about one courtroom where domestic violence cases are heard.
“I’m tired of driving to Brookdale, the courtroom everyone who knows agrees is the most likely place for a shooting or violence to occur, and not know whether I will be carried out in a body bag that day,” he wrote.
