When Baltimore Circuit Court Judge John C. Themelis is stopped on the street by someone he doesn't know and asked whether he's a judge, he denies it.
"I say, 'I'm not him, but a lot of people think so. He's a lot taller than I am.'" said Themelis, who is head of the court's security committee. "It's easier to avoid problems by not encouraging a situation."
In Richmond, Clark and his staff reviewed security for federal judges and how it might be improved. The Marshals Service puts out a pamphlet with security tips for federal judges and their families.
Rather than take additional security measures inside courthouses, Clark said, the marshals are more likely to remind judges to be careful away from work.
"We're telling them to be aware of their surroundings, have good lighting at their residences, have an alarm system at their residences. Those kinds of measures," Clark said. "We're reemphasizing general security, almost with a lessons-learned kind of approach from these two incidents."
The federal courthouse Clark protects in Alexandria -- the scene of regular hearings involving terrorism defendants and the violent street gang Mara Salvatrucha -- is ringed by concrete barriers and has intensive screening that includes bomb-sniffing dogs.
Several federal judges in Virginia said they believe security is sufficiently tight. "I just don't think judges are worried about it," said a judge who declined to be identified. "It's not something you can spend your time dwelling on."
Fairfax Circuit Court Judge Jane Marum Roush, who presided over the Lee Boyd Malvo sniper trial in 2003, also said she feels "very safe inside the confines of the courthouse."
"Outside of the courthouse, it's a different situation," Roush added. "You just have to go about your life. You can't live in fear."
Staff writer Allison Klein contributed to this report.
