Carr Calls on DOJ to Enforce Federal Law Prohibiting Efforts to Intimidate Supreme Court Justices

ATLANTA, GA – Attorney General Chris Carr has joined 24 of his colleagues in calling on U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland to enforce federal law prohibiting any attempt to intimidate U.S. Supreme Court Justices by protesting outside their private homes.

“Despite rushing without hesitation to surveil parents at school board meetings without cause or justification, the Biden administration has taken a ‘wait-and-see’ approach when it comes to protecting our Justices and safeguarding the integrity of the Court,” said Carr.

“Protesting outside of a Justice’s home in an effort to intimidate, influence or undermine our judicial system is a clear violation of federal statute, and it is time that the U.S. Attorney General takes decisive action to uphold the rule of law.”

In a letter sent to U.S. Attorney General Garland, the state attorneys general write, “Following last week’s leak of a draft opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, pro-abortion activists have begun protesting not just outside the Supreme Court, but outside the Justices’ homes, in the hope of pressuring the Justices to change their votes. As a former federal judge and the current head of the Department of Justice, you must surely appreciate the unique risks to both judges and the rule of law when judges are targeted at their homes. That is why Congress has long barred ‘picket[ing] or parad[ing]’ near a judge’s home ‘with the intent of interfering with, obstructing, or impeding the administration of justice.’  We the undersigned Attorneys General act daily to uphold the rule of law. These remarkable recent events provide you an opportunity to do the same.”

In their letter, the attorneys general also note that U.S. Attorney General Garland has been quick to use his authority to address the purported “threat” posed by parents who voice their opinions to their local school boards. Yet, while U.S. Supreme Court Justices and their families are being illegally harassed at their homes, he has remained silent.

The attorneys general further state, “Congress recognized that pressuring judges to change their votes by protesting outside their homes directly threatens the rule of law. You profess to share those concerns, having unequivocally stated that attacking a courthouse ‘to prevent judges from actually deciding cases’ plainly constitutes ‘domestic extremism, domestic terrorism.’ You can and should act accordingly by faithfully executing federal law to prevent protestors from attempting to intimidate the Justices of the Supreme Court, both to protect the Justices and to safeguard the rule of law.”

In addition to Carr, the letter was signed by the state attorneys general of Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia and Wyoming.

Read the letter here .