United States: The U.S. Marshals Service proposed to Congress USD38 million immediately for the utilization of two new programs aimed at strengthening judicial security, as threats against the judges and justices of the Supreme Court have increased.
The two programs were tucked into the U.S. Department of Justice budget for the fiscal year 2025 proposed on Monday and were under the Marshals Service’s overall request of USD 4 billion for the year 2025.
Establishment of Protective Services Office
The budget request allocates USD 28.1 million for the establishment of a new Protective Services Office within the Court Judicial Security Division, whose role is to guarantee the safety of more than 2,700 judges and manage court security.
The Justice Department has stated that the service is seeking to hire 53 new positions for the office, which “will consolidate the establishment of a strong foundation that will help fulfill the protective duties of the federal judiciary,” including the Supreme Court.
Last month’s Reuters investigation highlighted a steep increase in threats and intimidation against judges who have been abused by Donald Trump, a Republican former president, following their so-called substandard rulings in cases they heard.
Regarding the federal judges in total, the threats serious have hiked from 224 in fiscal year 2021 to 457 in fiscal year 2023, as the U.S. Marshals confirmed.
Launch of Special Grant Program
Meanwhile, the Marshals Service is pursuing the allocation of USD 10 million to launch a special grant program that offers financial support to jurisdictional governments to counter the circulation, either through government databases or other types of registries, of the personal data of federal judges and their family members.
That program was created in accordance with the Judicial Security and Privacy Act, a law that was passed in 2022, with the main goal being the creation of a mechanism for judges to conceal their personal details from public access.
The law was famously named after the son of Judge Esther Salas, who was actually murdered in her home in New Jersey the following month by a dissatisfied lawyer.
Supreme Court Funding Requests
In addition to the USD 805.9 million that the judiciary is requesting for court security, the Supreme Court is seeking USD 19.4 million in addition to the USD 38 million that the U.S. Marshals Service is proposing for new judicial security funding.
The request was that the Court receive funding for reconstructing the institutional security of the Supreme Court Police and the transfer of marshal services responsibility to the Supreme Court Police now to provide protection at the justice houses.
The Marshals Service, in the instance that it can, guards Supreme Court justices as they travel outside the district.
In 2022, the Supreme Court overturned its landmark Roe v. Wade ruling that came in 1973, which legalized abortion nationwide, an outage that led to protests outside the homes of the radical 6-3 majority of the Court.
An armed California man last year saw an attempt on Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s life after a man who is now referred to as a conservative gunman was arrested minutes away from the judge’s home. That man, Nicholas Roske, as humanizes as he is being charged with attempted murder.