From Grievance to Attack: A Discussion on Judicial Security and Best Practices for Safety

Hon. Nanette Brown is the Chief United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana. She previously served in the role of city attorney for the city of New Orleans from the time that Mayor Mitch Landrieu hired her in May 2010 until becoming a federal judge in 2011. As city attorney, Brown was responsible for all city contracts and oversaw all legal matters for the city.
Brown received a Bachelor of Arts degree from University of Southwestern Louisiana in 1985, and then attended Tulane Law School, where she received a Juris Doctor in 1988 and a Master of Laws in Energy and Environment in 1998.
From 1988 to 1992, Brown practiced corporate and environmental litigation at the New Orleans office of the firm of Adams & Reese LLP, From 1996 to 1998 she was working for the Onebane Law Firm. From 2000 to 2003, Brown was employed by Milling, Benson, Woodward LLP. Between 2004 and 2007, she practiced at the firm Chaffe McCall LLP and again with this firm from 2009 until 2010. From 2007 to 2009, she was a visiting assistant clinical professor at Loyola University New Orleans College of Law.
Brown was nominated to fill the seat of Judge Stanwood Duval by President Barack Obama on March 2, 2011.The United States Senate confirmed her by unanimous consent on October 3, 2011. She received her judicial commission the following day. She became Chief Judge on May 15, 2018.

The Honorable Karen Khalil was first elected in 1992, the youngest judge serving in Michigan at the time and the first woman to serve her district in the Seventeenth District Court, Redford Township, Michigan. During close to 29 years on the bench, she has served with distinction, and has been selected to serve as the Court’s Chief Judge for the majority of her time on the bench. She has presided over thousands of drunk and impaired driving cases during her tenure. Under her leadership, she established an “Intensive Supervised Probation” program in 2000, eventually incorporating the 10 key components of the drug court model. Then in 2011, she led her court to become one of the first Veterans Courts in the State of Michigan. She has been the Presiding Judge of the Veterans Court program since its inception, and is preparing to celebrate the 10 year anniversary of this important program with the treatment court team and the participants who have benefited from it.
Judge Khalil has devoted a great deal of time throughout her judicial career to planning a variety of different training sessions that give community leaders maximum access and educational exposure to the court system. She serves as a faculty member for the Michigan Judicial Institute and teaches and mentors other judges, especially in relation to her position teaching at New Judges School. She is a treatment court leader and a longtime member of the Board of Directors of the Michigan Association of Treatment Court Professionals. Judge Khalil frequently serves as a guest lecturer at colleges and conferences. She is a contributing author and has been featured in a number of different publications.
She attributes her success in the legal profession to the strong foundation that was laid during her early years in the profession in the legal departments at two of the big three. Immediately prior to her time on the bench, Judge Khalil served as a Staff Attorney for Chrysler Corporation. Her experiences at both Ford Motor Company and Chrysler gave her a broad overview of the legal profession and the far reaching impact of sound lawyering and solid business practices. While at Chrysler, she was also the corporate counsel representative on the American Bar Association’s Commission on Opportunities for Minorities in the Profession and a leader in the Minority Counsel Demonstration Project.
Judge Khalil is a graduate of Albion College and the University of Detroit School of Law.

John is an accomplished law enforcement professional with more than 28-years experience in the field with an emphasis on leadership and high-level security matters. He holds the distinction of being certified in threat management by the Association of Threat Assessment Professionals. John served the United States Marshals Service as the Administrator of the National Center for Judicial Security. In addition to his capacity with the U.S. Marshals Service, where he was tasked with protecting hundreds of personnel, facilities, and at-risk public officials, he has worked in the private sector to support the development of national-level protection plans, the development of physical security programs, and developing comprehensive risk-assessment tools for a variety of clients.
Examples of his work include the development and use of multi-disciplinary threat assessment teams that advise hundreds of schools and workplaces on protective, prevention, and intervention approaches related to behavioral violence; the development of the Department of Homeland Security’s national-level Active Shooter Preparedness curriculum; supporting the European Union’s Anti-corruption Initiative for the establishment of the High Anti-corruption Court in Ukraine; and, ongoing counsel and advisement for clients on short and long-term threat case management strategies.
John received his Bachelor of Arts in Criminal Justice from Temple University, Master of Science in Criminal Justice from St. Joseph's University, and is a graduate of the Naval Postgraduate School Executive Leaders Program. He serves on the Executive Board of the International Association of Chiefs of Police’s police academy and college training section; holds membership with the Association of Threat Assessment Professionals, Society of Human Resource Managers, ASIS International, and the National Association of School Resource Officers. He has proudly served on the advisory board of numerous local organizations and volunteers time for victims and families of violence.

The Honorable Linda Marie Bell serves as a judge in the Eighth Judicial District Court of Clark County. Judge Bell was elected in 2008 and took the bench in January of 2009. She presides in Department 7 where she hears calendars for the Adult Criminal Division Specialty Courts including Drug Court, Felony DUI Court, Mental Health Court, Veterans Court and the O.P.E.N. probation program. Judge Bell also serves as the Grand Jury Judge for the Eighth Judicial District Court.

A life-long Nevada resident, Judge Bell graduated with honors from Bonanza High School and the University of Nevada, Reno. Her undergraduate degree is in psychology, with a minor in studio art. In 1993, Judge Bell received her law degree magna cum laude from the University of San Diego, School of Law. While in law school, Judge Bell served as an articles editor for the University of San Diego Law Review. She also received moot court awards for writing and oral advocacy. During law school, Judge Bell worked for the Clark County District Attorney's Office and the San Diego Public Defender's Office. Following law school, she studied ethics and policy at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

Judge Bell was admitted to the Nevada State Bar in October of 1993. After graduation, she worked as a law clerk to the Honorable Sally Loehrer in the Eighth Judicial District Court. Following her clerkship, Judge Bell worked in Las Vegas law firms, practicing primarily in the areas of medical malpractice and family law. For twelve years prior to taking the bench, Judge Bell served as a public defender. She spent five years as a Clark County Public Defender, handling all manner of criminal cases. She then spent seven years in the non-capital post-conviction unit of the Law Offices of the Federal Public Defender, handling complex post-conviction cases in Nevada's state courts, the United States District Court and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Judge Bell argued eleven cases before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, including the published case of Chambers v. McDaniel.

Currently, Judge Bell serves on the board of the Nevada District Judges Association. She graduated from the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce Leadership Las Vegas program in 2008 and remains actively involved in Leadership Las Vegas, co-chairing the criminal justice day committee. She regularly participates in the Trial by Peers program and was honored as the Trial by Peers Judge of the Year in 2011. Judge Bell is a member of the Howard D. McKibben American Inn of Court and currently holds the position of President. Judge Bell has also previously served on the Court Records Subcommittee, previously served as a CASA, a board member of Family and Child Treatment, a board member of the Southern Nevada Women Attorneys and a board member of the Nevada Attorneys for Criminal Justice.