The current makeup of the Senate rarely agrees on anything – especially when it comes to provisions for the betterment of the American people. However, when it comes to the Supreme Court, they make sure they quickly spring into action. In response to the protests happening outside of certain Supreme Court justices’ houses due to people upset about the leaked Roe v. Wade opinion, the Senate passed a bill on Monday to extend security protections to the immediate family members of Supreme Court justices, reported by The Hill.
Sens. John Cornyn (R-Texas) and Chris Coons (D-Del.) spearheaded the effort that received unanimous consent from all 100 Senators. This bill, which heads to the House for passage, formally allows the Supreme Court of the United States Police to provide around-the-clock protection to family members, in line with the security some executive and congressional officials get.
“Threats to the physical safety of Supreme Court Justices and their families are disgraceful, and attempts to intimidate and influence the independence of our judiciary cannot be tolerated,” Cornyn said in a statement.
“I’m glad the Senate quickly approved this measure to extend Supreme Court police protection to family members, and the House must take up and pass it immediately,” he added.
It would be great to see all 100 Senators equally worried about women losing control of their reproductive rights, but I digress. As of now, there have been no reported arrests at the protests and vigils outside the homes of Justices Kavanaugh, Alito, and Roberts. However, that hasn’t stopped certain Senators from making outrageous comparisons.
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) claimed a “double” standard in media reporting the current protests and the Jan. 6th insurrection where five people died.
“It’s complete hypocrisy, you see this in the corporate media, you see this among Democrats,” Cruz said.
“On January 6 of 2021, you had tens of thousands of people peacefully protesting and yet, the corporate media and Democrats slander them with the made up term insurrectionist. “And yet in this instance, they are not willing to call off their goons even now as this has the potential to escalate and escalate further.”
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell echoed these sentiments and stated federal judges shouldn’t be bullied, forgetting the majority of the country is against overturning Roe v. Wade.
We’ve seen angry crowds assemble at judges’ private family homes. Activists published a map of their addresses. Law enforcement has had to install a security fence around the Supreme Court itself,” McConnell said from the Senate floor.
“Trying to scare federal judges into ruling a certain way is far outside the bounds of First Amendment speech or protest. It is an attempt to replace the rule of law with the rule of mobs,” he added.
Claiming the rule of law is being replaced with the “rule of mobs” sounds like what the Capitol rioters tried to do because they didn’t like the presidential election. White House press secretary Jen Psaki towed the line between encouraging the right to protest, but warned against any “violence, threats, or vandalism.”
Nobody is wishing any harm during these protests. However, it says something that some believe the Supreme Court should be insulated from any criticism, given some judges are only working for the few.