The US Marshals Service was recently advised to refrain from arresting protesters at Supreme Court justices’ homes “unless absolutely necessary,” according to training documents obtained by the office of Senator Katie Britt, R-Ala.
This news has caused quite the stir, as it appears to contradict Attorney General Merrick Garland’s previous statement that U.S. Marshals have the full authority to arrest people under any federal statute, including for protesting outside of a judge’s home.
This training protocol was presented to Garland during a congressional hearing Tuesday, during which he claimed never to have seen the slides before. He told Britt he did not wish to amend his previous statement regarding U.S. Marshals being empowered to arrest protesters for violating the federal statute regarding intimidating judges.
However, the training materials indicate that Department of Justice lawyers concluded that applying the statute to peaceful protests directed at the justices could potentially violate the First Amendment. The ‘intent of influencing any judge’ language thus logically goes to threats and intimidation, not 1st [Amendment] protected protest activities,” according to the training materials.
It appears that the Department of Justice is attempting to walk a fine line between protecting the safety of the justices and their families, while also ensuring that protesters have the right to peacefully demonstrate. This is a difficult task, as it is difficult to distinguish between threatening behavior and peaceful protest.
The American people are rightly concerned about the political corruption within the Department of Justice. How can we trust anything that Garland or the DOJ says when they continually contradict themselves? It’s time for the DOJ to be held accountable and for the political corruption to be rooted out.
We must also remember that peaceful protests are an essential part of democracy and an important way to bring attention to issues that matter. It is essential that protesters have the right to peacefully demonstrate without fear of arrest or intimidation.
It is clear that the Department of Justice needs to do a better job of protecting the rights of protesters while also protecting the safety of Supreme Court justices and their families. The American public deserves answers and we must continue to hold the DOJ accountable for their actions.
Intimidating judges was a crime the last time I checked. No? So what would you call this?
