The Republican Governors of Virginia and Maryland Respond to a Letter From the… Supreme Court Security Officer calling on them to deploy police and law enforcement officers to avoid picket lines at judges’ homes.
“The governor agrees with the marshal that threatening activities outside the judges’ homes have increased,” the Virginia Gov spokesman said. Glenn Youngkin, Christian Martinez, in response to a letter from Marshal Gail Curley of the Supreme Court called on the governor to “enforce the state law” prohibiting pickets outside the judges’ homes.
“He welcomes the Supreme Court Marshal’s request to Fairfax County to enforce state law as they are the primary enforcement authority for the state statute,” the statement added.
Youngkin also called on Attorney General Merrick Garland to “do his job” by “enforcing the much more robust federal law.”
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“Every means of federal law enforcement, including US marshals, must be involved while denying judges the right to live peacefully in their homes,” the statement said.
Maryland Governor Larry Hogan also received a letter from Curley requesting that “Maryland State Police, in conjunction with local authorities, as appropriate, enforce laws prohibiting pickets outside the homes of Supreme Court justices residing in Maryland.”
Hogan’s communications director Michael Ricci responded to that letter in a Twitter post, also pointing the finger at Garland.
“Two months ago, Governor Hogan and Governor Youngkin sent a letter calling on Attorney General Garland to uphold the clear and unequivocal federal statutes on the books that prohibit pickets at judges’ residences,” Ricci wrote. “A month later, hours after an assassination attempt on Judge Kavanaugh, the Justice Department finally responded and refused to enforce the laws.”
The statement continued: “Now another federal official is writing to us with conflicting information. If the Marshal had taken the time to investigate the matter, she would have learned that the constitutionality of the statute cited in her letter has been questioned by the prosecutor. General of Maryland. office.”
Ricci added that Hogan has instructed the Maryland State Police to further review law enforcement options “in light of the continued refusal of multiple federal entities to act.”
Last month, 26-year-old Nicholas Roske arrived at the Supreme Court judge Brett Kavanaugh’s Maryland Home with plans to kill Kavanaugh and then himself, prosecutors say. Roske finally gave himself up without harming anyone.
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Hogan, along with Youngkin, has appealed to the Department of Justice to enforce the federal statute that prohibits protests, pickets, and other forms of harassment outside the home of judges.
Under federal law, it is illegal to attempt to influence a judge’s ruling or interfere with the performance of their duty. However, the Justice Department has so far refused to interfere with protesters outside the homes of several Supreme Court justices, including Clarence Thomas, Amy Comey Barrett and Brett Kavanaugh.
While the DOJ has provided security at the judges’ homes, they have allowed protests and pickets to continue unimpeded.
Timothy HJ Nerozzi of Fox News contributed to this report