US Supreme Court justices defiant as threats hit home / Photo: © AFP
US Supreme Court justices defiant as threats hit home
US Supreme Court justices told Congress on Tuesday that escalating threats have forced them to confront dangers once unthinkable for the nation's top judges -- including explaining bulletproof vests to their children.
But in rare public testimony, they also delivered a defiant message: the court would continue deciding cases "without fear or favor" despite rising intimidation and a charged political climate.
The appearance came as the judiciary sought millions of dollars in new security funding after a bruising term that deepened tensions with President Donald Trump.
Justices Amy Coney Barrett and Elena Kagan began a day of testimony before House and Senate panels that control federal spending, the first such appearance by sitting members of the nation’s top court since 2019.
"For some of us, those threats have come very close, and all of us live with the knowledge that they may again materialize," Kagan, a liberal justice, told lawmakers.
"But as the chief justice has said, all members of the court can do their jobs as they believe legally right, adjudicating cases without fear or favor."
Barrett, who was sent home with a bulletproof vest around the time of the 2022 leak of the draft ruling overturning the nationwide right to abortion, described finding her 12-year-old son standing in her bedroom doorway after she put it down.
"I didn't expect that performing the service was going to put me in the position of explaining to my children what a bulletproof vest was and why I had to wear one," she said.
- 'Deeply alarming' -
Trump has praised the conservative-dominated court when it has sided with him, including on presidential immunity, but has sharply criticized judges and justices who have ruled against him -- such as blocking his effort to end birthright citizenship and striking down sweeping global tariffs.
Barrett, whom Trump nominated in 2020, has drawn particular anger from some conservatives after joining some high-profile decisions against the president despite remaining a reliable vote for many conservative legal outcomes.
The judiciary is seeking nearly $921 million for security, including more funding for protection at federal courthouses and almost $15 million to expand Supreme Court police protection for justices and their families, including at their homes.
Rosa DeLauro, the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, said US Marshals tracked 564 threats against federal judges last year, a "deeply alarming" 31 percent increase from the previous year.
Barrett has firsthand experience of the dangers. Her home was reportedly targeted in May in a "swatting" incident, in which a false emergency report is used to trigger an armed police response.
Her sister's home in South Carolina was also the target of a bomb threat last year.
The most serious recent attack plot against a justice came in 2022, when an armed Californian traveled to the neighborhood of Justice Brett Kavanaugh intending to kill him. The would-be assailant was later sentenced to more than eight years in prison.
Chief Justice John Roberts warned earlier this year that personal hostility toward judges was dangerous and "has got to stop," after Trump escalated public criticism of rulings against him.
Lawmakers are expected to question Barrett and Kagan on security, but the hearings could range further, including ethics rules, leaks, prediction markets and the court’s recent decisions.
The court has faced sustained criticism over undisclosed gifts and luxury travel involving some justices, prompting calls from Democrats for stronger ethics rules, term limits or even expanding the court.
Republican committee chairman Dave Joyce opened the hearing by asking lawmakers to limit their questioning to the court’s budget and not to bring up decisions by the justices.
(V.Sørensen--DTZ)
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