RICHMOND, Virginia (AP) – The U.S. Supreme Court marshal has called on Maryland and Virginia officials to enforce laws that she says prohibit pickets outside the homes of judges living in the two states.
“For weeks, large groups of protesters chanting slogans, using megas and playing drums have picketed judges’ homes,” Marshal Gail Curley wrote in Friday’s letters to Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, Virginia’s governor. Glenn Youngkin and two local elected officials. officials.
Curley wrote that Virginia and Maryland laws and an ordinance in Montgomery County, Maryland, prohibit pickets at judges’ homes, and asked officials to order police to enforce those provisions.
Judges ’homes have been the target of protests over the right to abortion since May, when a leaked draft opinion suggested the court was willing to overturn the historic Roe v. Wade of 1973 who legalized abortion nationwide.
Protests and threatening activities have “increased since May,” Curley wrote in a letter, and have continued since the court ruling overturning Roe v. Was issued last week.
“Earlier this week, for example, 75 protesters picketed loudly at a justice’s house in Montgomery County for 20-30 minutes in the evening, then proceeded to picket a man’s house. another justice for 30 minutes, where the crowd increased to 100, and finally returned to the first justice house to picket for another 20 minutes, “Curley wrote in his letter to the county executive. Montgomery, Marc Elrich. “This is exactly the kind of conduct that Maryland and Montgomery County laws prohibit.”
In his letter to Jeffrey McKay, chairman of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, he said a recent protest in front of an unspecified justice house involved dozens of people chanting, “There is no privacy for we, there is no peace for you! “
Curley’s letters were dated Friday and shared a Supreme Court spokesman with reporters on Saturday.
Curley’s request came about a month after a California man was found with a gun, a knife and a pepper spray near the Maryland home of Supreme Court Judge Brett Kavanaugh after telling him to the police who planned to kill justice. The man, Nicholas John Roske, 26, of Simi Valley, California, has been charged with attempted murder of a U.S. judge and has pleaded not guilty.
Youngkin and Hogan, both Republicans, have previously expressed concern about the protests. In May, they sent a joint letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland calling for federal law enforcement to keep judges safe and enforcing a federal law that they say bans pickets with the intent of influencing a judge. .
The court’s direct request puts it against the Justice Department, which, while providing U.S. commissioners, has not taken steps to limit protests as long as they are peaceful.
Hogan spokesman Michael Ricci said in a statement Saturday that the governor had ordered the state police to “further review the implementation options that respect the First Amendment and the Constitution.” He also said that “if the marshal had taken the time to explore the matter,” he would have known that the constitutionality of the Maryland statute he cited has been questioned by the state attorney general’s office.
Elrich said he had no record of having received the letter addressed to him and asked why it was made known to the press. He said he would review it and was willing to discuss it with Curley, but defended the work Montgomery County police have done so far.
“In Montgomery County we are following the law that provides security and respects the rights of the First Amendment of the protesters. That is what we do, regardless of the issue of the protests,” he said.
Youngkin’s spokesman Christian Martinez said the Virginia governor accepted the marshal’s request and said Youngkin had made the same request to McKay in recent weeks.
“The governor remains in regular contact with the judges themselves and considers their safety a top priority. He is in contact with state and local officials on the Marshal’s request for assistance and will continue to be involved in the issue of security. of Justice, “Martinez said.
Youngkin in May pushed for a security perimeter around the homes of judges living in Fairfax County, but McKay rejected the request, saying it would violate First Amendment rights.
McKay said Saturday that the county’s position on the issue “has not changed.”
“The law cited in the letter is a likely violation of the First Amendment, and a previous court case refused to enforce it. As long as individuals gather on public property and do not block access to private residences, they are allowed to be there, ”he said.