[JURIST] In a letter released Wednesday, the Judicial Conference of the United States formally requested congressional and presidential assistance in providing additional security measures. As a result of violence toward federal judges and their families in recent months and the emotional Terri Schiavo case [JURIST news archive] which bred threats against members of the bench, the letter [PDF] stated that many federal judges are feeling particularly vulnerable. The letter requested funding for in-home security systems and additional US Marshals, who provide courtroom security and protection services for federal judges. AP has more. JURIST's Paper Chase has previous reports on the February murder of a federal judge's family and the March courtroom shootings in Atlanta; earlier Wednesday, a white supremacist was sentenced to 40 years [JURIST report] for soliciting the killing of the same federal judge whose family were the victims of the February murder.