The White House, by a wide bipartisan margin, approved a bill on Tuesday to extend protections for Supreme Court Justices and their families despite 27 Democrats opposing the proposal.
The move took on added urgency after a California man reportedly armed with a knife and handgun was arrested by police last week while outside the Maryland home of Justice Brett Kavanaugh. All of the opposed lawmakers were from the left-leaning party but still had support from 396 others.
Protections for Supreme Court Justices
The bill will now head to United States President Joe Biden's desk for signing after it was drafted by Sens. John Cornyn of Texas and Chris Coons of Delaware. The measure was passed in the Senate last month.
Several of the opposing lawmakers were prominent progressives and all but two Democrats from New Jersey voted against the passage of the bill. They argued that it should extend protection to federal judges as a whole. The situation comes as the family of a federal judge in New Jersey was targeted by a gunman in a deadly attack at their home in 2020, as per CBS News.
The proposal, known as the Supreme Court Police Parity Act, grants the marshal of the Supreme Court and Supreme Court police the authority to protect the justices' family members or any officer of the court if protection is deemed necessary.
In a statement on Monday, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said that Biden supported the legislation to fund increased security for the Supreme Court and its members. She said that the administration took "very seriously" threats and intimidation against judges.
According to Fox News, New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was one of the lawmakers opposed to the measure and boasted about it in an Instagram video on Saturday. She argued that officials had it easy making protections for themselves but had a hard time giving similar security to civilians.
Consistent Protests
The bill has been in the spotlight following the leak of a draft majority opinion that sought to strike down Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court ruling that legalized abortion in the United States. The leak of the decision sparked public outcry and led to an increase in protests over the potential for the landmark ruling to be overturned.
Currently, Supreme Court justices are covered by federal security protection under U.S. Code but the bill would extend those protections to their immediate family members. Security protections surrounding the high court received fresh attention after the Justice Department charged a man who was arrested near Kavanaugh's home in Maryland.
The chief of police in Montgomery County, Maryland, Marcus Jones, said in an interview on Tuesday that the surge in protests outside judges' residences has "added an incredible amount of work for our officers where the justices live."
The police chief said that in the week after the draft opinion to overturn Roe v. Wade was first leaked, there were several "consistent" protests at residences in his county. He noted that since then, the protests have been occurring sporadically, CNN reported.
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