Congress has passed a bill to provide security to family members of Supreme Court justices, despite 27 Democrats voting against it.
The bill is now heading to President Joe Biden’s desk for a signature, less than a week after a man was arrested outside Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s home for attempted murder.
The Supreme Court Police Parity Act passed on Tuesday with a vote of 396-27.
The SCOTUS security bill has passed the House 396-27.
All nos were Democrats. Here is the list.
The bill will now go to President @JoeBiden for his signature. pic.twitter.com/9wUcjphmas
— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) June 14, 2022
The only lawmakers to oppose it were Democrats, including Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Pramila Jayapal.
27 Democrats just voted “No” to provide security for Supreme Court Justices and their families days after an attempted assassination on Justice Kavanaugh.
Unbelievable.
— John Rose (@RepJohnRose) June 14, 2022
The legislation amends the US Code to “grant the Supreme Court of the United States security-related authorities equivalent to the legislative and executive branches.” It additionally authorizes the “around-the-clock security protection” of “any member of the immediate family of the Chief Justice, any Associate Justice, or any officer of the Supreme Court if the Marshal determines such protection is necessary.”
The Senate had passed the bill unanimously over a month ago after a draft opinion that would overturn Roe v. Wade was leaked to Politico.
“We hold that Roe and Casey must be overruled,” Justice Samuel Alito wrote in the document labeled, “Opinion of the Court.” “It is time to heed the Constitution and return the issue of abortion to the people’s elected representatives.”
Protesters have been showing up to the homes of conservative justices after their addresses were posted online with a call to demonstrate by a group called Ruth Sent Us.
According to a report from the Washington Examiner, “It’s not clear who is in charge of Ruth Sent Us or how the group is funded. The map displayed on its website contains a link to another activist group, Vigil for Democracy. And a link at the bottom of the group’s website is for an organizing page run by Strike For Choice, yet another activist group.”
“Strike For Choice boasts endorsements from 11 activist groups, the most prominent being Code Pink, a left-wing activist group that has received funding from major Democratic groups such as the Tides Foundation,” the report added.
Protesters even showed up at the home of Justice Kavanaugh on June 8, hours after a man was arrested for an alleged assassination plot. The 26-year-old California resident was armed with a gun, knife, and pepper spray. He told law enforcement that he had traveled to Justice Kavanaugh’s Maryland home with the intent of breaking in, killing him, then killing himself.
Though these protests appear to be breaking federal law, no arrests have been made outside of the man who plotted an assassination.
Under 18 U.S.C. § 1507, “pickets or parades in or near a building housing a court of the United States, or in or near a building or residence occupied or used by such judge, juror, witness, or court officer” are prohibited when done with the intent “of interfering with, obstructing, or impeding the administration of justice.”
The statute reads in full, “Whoever, with the intent of interfering with, obstructing, or impeding the administration of justice, or with the intent of influencing any judge, juror, witness, or court officer, in the discharge of his duty, pickets or parades in or near a building housing a court of the United States, or in or near a building or residence occupied or used by such judge, juror, witness, or court officer, or with such intent uses any sound-truck or similar device or resorts to any other demonstration in or near any such building or residence, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both.”
Unless justices who voted to overturn the abortion legislation change their minds, abortion laws will be handed back to the states when the opinion is signed.
