NATION IN BRIEF : MARYLAND : Target of Bombing Is Out of Hospital

A judge injured by a bomb mailed to his home last week was well enough to leave Washington County Hospital on Christmas Day, but his destination was kept secret. Judge John Corderman, 47, was discharged under tight security after surgical removal of shrapnel from his abdomen was determined to be successful, officials said. “We do not know where the judge went,” said Sheran White of the Hagerstown, Md., facility. “He said he would grant no interviews, at least today.” Corderman, a circuit (county-level) judge, also lost part of a finger and suffered ear damage when the package exploded in his lap. Meanwhile, police and postal inspectors continued to review old court cases in search of a motive, and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms was analyzing fragments of the homemade device for clues to the maker’s identity. Authorities said they continue to have no reason to believe the incident is linked to package bombs that killed a federal judge in Alabama and a Savannah, Ga., alderman.