Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett told lawmakers Tuesday that a significant surge in threats against her and fellow justices is increasingly intruding upon their private and family lives.
During a rare appearance before Congress, Justice Barrett recounted having to wear a bulletproof vest home a few years ago, an experience she struggled to explain to her 12-year-old son.
“I didn’t expect that performing this service would put me in the position of explaining to my children what a bulletproof vest was, why I had to wear one,” she stated.
She and Justice Elena Kagan testified before a House appropriations panel, advocating for increased security funding for members of the nation’s highest court. Judges across the country have witnessed a rise in violent threats and intimidation. Justice Barrett’s home was also targeted by a fake swatting call to police in May.
The hearing occurred two weeks after the conservative-majority court delivered a series of significant opinions, including a decision that expanded President Donald Trump’s power over federal regulatory agencies and another that rejected his wide-ranging tariffs, which drew sharp personal criticism.
This marks the first time justices have testified before Congress since 2019, with both justices facing extensive questions about the court’s operations.
Security is central to the Supreme Court’s budget request
The Supreme Court requested a total of $228 million for next fiscal year, a roughly 10% increase over the year before. About $18 million of that is for maintaining the building and grounds.
Much of the requested increase, $14.6 million, would go to expanding personal protection for justices, with six more agents for each.
An additional $2 million would fund an off-site residential security post aimed at making emergency responses faster, as well as increasing the number of Supreme Court police officers.
The U.S. Marshals Service, responsible for protecting judges, reported 564 threats in the government fiscal year that ended in September, an increase from the year before.
That total includes threats to the hundreds of federal judges around the country, though the nine-member Supreme Court has not been immune.
In May, Barrett’s security detail worked with police to quickly deal with the call determined to be swatting, or a fake 911 call designed to provoke a police response. Last year, her sister was the victim of a bomb threat in Charleston, South Carolina, police said. No bomb was found.
In 2022, shortly after the leak of a draft opinion overturning the Roe v. Wade abortion decision, a would-be assassin was arrested near the home of Justice Brett Kavanaugh with weapons and zip ties. Threats to the Supreme Court increased after that leak, and have continued to grow, Kagan said.
Chief Justice John Roberts has condemned the threats to all U.S. judges, saying during a speech in March that criticism of judicial opinions is understandable, but personally directed hostility is “dangerous, and it’s got to stop.”
