Keeping courthouses safe

Utah is no stranger to the type of tragedy that struck an Atlanta courtroom on Friday. Twenty years ago, Ronnie Lee Gardner tried to shoot his way out of the old Metropolitan Hall of Justice in downtown Salt Lake City after his girlfriend slipped him a loaded gun. He succeeded in killing an attorney and wounding a bailiff before he, himself, was wounded.

The lesson is that one can never be too careful when dealing with defendants who may be desperate to avoid long prison sentences. It pays to anticipate devious designs, and to imagine worst-case scenarios. Someone who is determined to kill people in order to escape is unlikely to stop for anything other than lethal force.

With that in mind, there are likely several new procedures that will be implemented as a result of the Atlanta shooting. Perhaps there will be more armed deputies on hand in each courtroom. Perhaps defendants in criminal cases will be kept separate from armed guards. They should not be handcuffed, because that would violate the presumption of innocence that is essential for fairness. Certainly, steps will be taken to make sure a killer is not able to successfully escape a courthouse the way Brian Nichols did on Friday.

One thing ought to be clear, however. Courts should do everything possible to make sure that deputies are the only armed people in the courthouse. A few years ago, Utah lawmakers passed a ridiculous law requiring gun lockers at each courthouse. The idea was that people should be allowed to carry their weapons up to the building, then check them in while they went inside.

Thankfully, judges spoke out against the law and refused to implement it. Last week's tragedy was further evidence that this was a potentially dangerous requirement.

No doubt, some people will argue that an armed citizenry could have kept Nichols from escaping. That would be a flawed assertion. Most likely, it would have resulted in an even greater loss of life.

Crimes such as these are particularly troubling because they strike at the very foundations of a free society. An independent judiciary is essential in order to protect basic liberties. If judges are threatened, intimidated or compromised in any way, justice may become little more than a word. The nation has a keen interest in doing all it can to ensure that judges, jurors and everyone else involved in the system that adjudicates the facts surrounding crimes are protected.

Friday's tragedy was a rare failure for courthouse security. Unfortunately, however, it was not unprecedented. The trick now is for law enforcement nationwide to reassure the public that it won't happen again.