The Senate unanimously passed a security bill on Monday to extend police protection to the Supreme Court justices’ families.
The bipartisan Supreme Court Police Parity Act, sponsored by Republican Texas Sen. John Cornyn and Democratic Delaware Sen. Chris Coons, will allow the Supreme Court of the United States Police to provide around-the-clock security protection to the justices’ families, similar to the protection members of Congress receive, according to a press release from Coons’ office.
The senators introduced the legislation on Thursday, just three days after the leak of the majority opinion draft appearing set to overturn Roe v. Wade, the Hill reported.
“Threats to the physical safety of the Supreme Court Justices and their families are disgraceful, and attempts to influence the independence of our judiciary cannot be tolerated,” Cornyn said in a statement. “I’m glad the Senate quickly passed my bill to extend SCOTUS police protection to family members. “I am glad to see this bipartisan bill unanimously pass the Senate in order to extend security protection to the families of Supreme Court members.”
Threats against Supreme Court Justices and their families are disgraceful, and attempts to influence the independence of our judiciary cannot be tolerated.
I’m glad the Senate quickly passed my bill to extend SCOTUS police protection to family members.https://t.co/WP6cTmTOUZ
— Senator John Cornyn (@JohnCornyn) May 9, 2022
“The events of the past week have intensified the focus on Supreme Court Justices’ families,” Coons said. “If the families of the Supreme Court Justices have the same profile and exposure as the high ranking officials in our government, they deserve the same level of protection. We must take threats that come from extremes on both sides of the political spectrum against Supreme Court Justices seriously, and that makes this bill an unfortunate necessity.” (RELATED: Law Enforcement Prepares For Violence In The Wake Of Unrest Surrounding Reported Roe v. Wade Decision)
A left-wing organization, “Ruth Sent Us,” published the apparent home addresses of six conservative justices calling to protest the reported decision and in front of their homes. Protests took place in front of the home of Justice Samuel Alito—who authored the opinion— located in Northern Virginia on Monday where crowds could be heard chanting “our bodies, our voice” and “Alito is a coward,” according to Fox News.
Pro-abortion protesters also marched to the homes of Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Brett Kavanaugh during large, organized protests Saturday evening, Fox News reported.
A White House reporter confronted White House press secretary Jen Psaki at Monday’s briefing about a federal statute prohibiting protesters from organizing demonstrations in front of the home of any court official to prevent a private citizen from influencing a decision. The press secretary noted that while the White House supports peaceful protest, they do not encourage citizens to break the law.