SCOTUS security official asks Maryland and Virginia to prevent protests outside homes of justices

The Supreme Court Marshal called on officials in Maryland and Virginia this week to halt protests outside the homes of SCOTUS justices since the overturning of Roe v. Wade late last month.

Marshal of the Court Gail Curley wrote letters to Governor Hogan in Maryland and Governor Glenn Youngkin in Virginia requesting law enforcement officials move to stop pro-abortion activists from gathering in front of the homes of the justices who voted to overturn the landmark 1973 ruling. Curley pointed out to Governor Hogan and Montgomery County officials that state and county laws are meant to curtail such activities.

“For weeks on end, large groups of protesters chanting slogans, using bullhorns, and banging drums have picketed justices’ homes in Maryland. Earlier this week, for example, 75 protesters loudly picketed at one Justice’s home in Maryland for 20-30 minutes in the evening, then proceeded to picket at another Justice’s home for 30 minutes, where the crowd grew to 100, and finally returned to the first Justice’s home to picket for another 20 minutes. This is exactly the kind of conduct that the Maryland and Montgomery County laws prohibit,” Curley wrote.

Both state governors previously ordered extra protection for SCOTUS justices and their families in recent weeks, as a leaked draft of the opinion that overturned Roe has had pro-choice protesters demonstrating since early May. One man was caught and arrested by Montgomery County police when he called and reported himself for planning to kill Justice Brett Kavanaugh in the wake of the leaked draft opinion.

The Department of Justice has previously stated it will do what it can to protect SCOTUS justices and their families as the fallout from the overturning of Roe persists over the following weeks and months. “Threats of violence and actual violence against the justices of course strike at the heart of our democracy,” Garland said in June. “And we will do everything we can to prevent them and to hold people who do them accountable.”