Donation to Stockton Foundation creates scholarship in memory of judge’s slain son

The Stockton University Foundation received a $100,000 gift on May 19 from the Daniel Anderl Judicial Protection Project to create an endowed scholarship for undergraduate students interested in studying privacy law, cybersecurity and criminal justice.

The Daniel Anderl Judicial Protection Project’s mission is to further the safety, security and privacy of members of the judicial community and their families. 

“Our organization understands that education is the best way to try and minimize the effects of threats upon judges and the way people view the judicial system,” said Jose Linares, a member of the project’s board and a former chief U.S. district judge for New Jersey. “We have to support education so that the voices of the reasonable drown out the voices of the unreasonable.” 

The project honors the memory of Daniel Anderl, the son of U.S. District Court Judge Esther Salas and defense attorney Mark Anderl. Daniel was shot and killed in July 2020 six days after his 20th birthday by an assailant targeting Judge Salas at their home in North Brunswick. Mark Anderl was also seriously wounded in the shooting. The gunman, a former litigant and lawyer, found the judge’s personal information on the internet and came to the family’s door posing as a deliveryman.

After her son’s death, Judge Salas successfully lobbied the New Jersey Legislature and Congress to pass laws that prohibit the public disclosure of personal information of judges, prosecutors and law enforcement agents. 

The project previously established an undergraduate scholarship at Rutgers University Newark and at Seton Hall University’s law school. Rachael Honig, a member of the project’s board, said the organization wants to continue to expand by providing more scholarships all across New Jersey.

Dan Nugent, the executive director of the Stockton University Foundation, said the awarding of the first scholarship was to take place this week.