Joan Humphrey Lefkow, 2005 News

federal judge, was the target of an assassination attempt by troubled electrician Bart Ross, who was outraged that she dismissed a malpractice suit he had filed. Lefkow was not at home when Ross entered her Chicago home in February to kill her, but her husband and elderly mother were. Ross shot and killed both. He committed suicide in March. In May, Lefkow criticized members of Congress who have spoken out against members of the judiciary, in particular ones they have labeled “activist judges.” She called on the Senate Judiciary Committee to “publicly and persistently repudiate gratuitous attacks on the judiciary.” She returned to the bench in July.