When people took to protesting outside of the homes of Supreme Court justices after last year's leak of the draft decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, hundreds of federal agents were quietly watching, both in person and online, for “concerning communications.” Now the court has sought to enshrine the new "praetorian guard" indefinitely, The Intercept reports. The Supreme Court sought millions of dollars for security last year, enlisting the U.S. Marshals Service to provide personal details for the justices. A year later, that security force hasn’t seen a significant increase in threats or attacks, but the Supreme Court is asking to continue — and in some cases, even augment — the high level of security. Last summer, hundreds gathered outside the homes of the conservative justices to protest the Dobbs decision, which effectively eliminated reproductive rights for millions. Top Republicans quickly cast the demonstrations as illegal, arguing that they were tantamount to an attempt to influence a judge, which is a crime.
“It is beyond dispute that far-left activists have launched a concerted and coordinated effort to intimidate the Court into changing the draft Dobbs decision,” Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), ranking member of the Judiciary Committee, wrote Attorney General Merrick Garland in May 2022. “I urge you to publicly commit to protecting the justices, and to condemn and prosecute anyone seeking to threaten and intimidate the Court into changing its decision." Though the Supreme Court has its own police force, the Justice Department dispatched the U.S. Marshals Service to augment their security details. Congress passed the Supreme Court Police Parity Act, which extends security to Supreme Court justices’ immediate family members. Yet, apart from one bizarre incident last June, when an armed California man traveled to Washington, D.C., claiming an intent to assassinate Justice Brett Kavanaugh before turning himself in to authorities, there have been no acts of violence attempted or committed against justices. No protesters were arrested. Aggregate data show that threats to the judiciary in general went down in 2022.
Kommentit