After more and more protests were organized in defense of Roe v. Wade, a bill was passed unanimously by the Senate, allowing for Supreme Court members’ families to be put under police protection. Monday’s bill, S. 4160, adds an amendment to United States Code Title 40, which will extend police protections previously reserved for the legislative and executive branches. The bill will have to be approved by the House of Representatives.
S. 4160 comes after a series of protests erupted outside of the homes of several Supreme Court Justices over a possible reversal of Roe v. Wade. A leaked draft by Politico revealed which Supreme Court Justices were planning on attempting to overturn Roe v. Wade. Justices such as Justice Samuel Alito, who wrote the draft, have been singled out for protests.
On May 9th, NBC reported that 150 people had gathered outside of Justice Samuel Alito’s home in Fairfax, Virginia. Days earlier, similar numbers of protesters had appeared in front of Justice Kavanaugh and Robert’s homes.
The above demonstrations, which remained peaceful, were organized by ShutdownDC, which aims to “use strategic direct action to advance justice and hold officials accountable.”
Republican Texas Rep. John Cornyn introduced the bill.
“We must act to ensure Justices and their families are protected from those who wish to cause them harm by extending Supreme Court police security to family members,” he said.
Recently, fences have appeared outside of the Supreme Court building in anticipation of larger demonstrations to come.
“If the conservative justices are considering rolling back a precedent that protects what people choose to do with their own bodies, she says, then no home address is out of bounds,” one protester stated outside of Kavanaugh’s home.