PICTURED ABOVE: (from left) Judge Paul W. Grimm (ret.), Judge Esther Salas, Dean Kerry Abrams, and Judge Robin Rosenberg. Credit: Brian Mullins Photography
Click here to watch a recording of the 2024 Lemkin Medal on Duke Law School’s YouTube channel.
Judge Esther Salas receives 2024 Lemkin Award at Duke Law ceremony
United States District Judge Esther Salas was awarded the 2024 Raphael Lemkin Rule of Law Guardian Medal at an event held at Duke Law School to recognize her heroic efforts to strengthen security for judges and their families.
Judge Salas has served as a U.S. District Court Judge for the District of New Jersey since 2011. When her son Daniel Anderl was killed in a targeted attack at her home in 2020, Judge Salas became a tireless advocate for judicial safety and privacy. Her advocacy led to the passage of New Jersey’s “Daniel’s Law” and the federal “Daniel Anderl Judicial Security and Privacy Act,” both aimed at protecting judges and their families from violence and harassment.
“I am in awe of Judge Salas’s bravery in a time of horrific tragedy, her perseverance in the face of political obstacles, and her willingness to share her story to educate others about the dangers judges face,” said Kerry Abrams, dean of Duke Law School. “It is truly a privilege to honor her today with the Lemkin Medal.”
In presenting the medal to Judge Salas, retired Judge Paul W. Grimm, director of the Bolch Judicial Institute, relayed the life-saving impact of her work. “All judges owe you a debt of gratitude for your work in the face of unimaginable loss,” he said.
Following the presentation of the medal, Judge Robin Rosenberg of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida led a conversation with Judge Salas. Judge Rosenberg was among the many federal and state judges who have advocated alongside Judge Salas for the passage of judicial security legislation.
“I didn’t look at people in this process as ‘R’s or ‘D’s,” Judge Salas said to Judge Rosenberg. “I looked at people in this process as people that could help us and that needed to help us, and that needed to make democracy paramount, because it’s in all of our best interests. So when I talked to senators and when I made the phone calls, I often thought of Danny, and still do.”
The award, named after Raphael Lemkin, a former Duke Law faculty member and the legal scholar who coined the term “genocide,” honors those who work to protect the integrity and independence of the judiciary. Previous recipients are Nuremberg prosecutor Benjamin Ferencz, Duke Law Professor Jim Coleman, and Yale Law School Professor Harold Koh.
The ceremony kicked off a two-day conference on Defending the Judiciary, hosted by the Bolch Judicial Institute of Duke Law School.
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