Twitter explodes after the Senate unanimously approves security for Supreme Court Justices' families

Twitter explodes after the Senate unanimously approves security for Supreme Court Justices' families
The U.S. Supreme Court in 2021, Wikimedia Commons
Brandon Gage
May 10, 2022

The United States Senate on Monday passed a resolution by unanimous consent to provide enhanced security protection for the immediate family members of Supreme Court Justices.

The legislation "would formally allow the Supreme Court of the United States Police to provide around-the-clock protection to family members, in line with the security some executive and congressional officials get," The Hill reported. It now lies with the House of Representatives.

The bill was speedily drafted on Thursday by Senators John Cornyn (R-Texas) and Chris Coons (D-Delaware) following the leak of a draft opinion reversing Roe versus Wade and Planned Parenthood of Southern Pennsylvania versus Casey, the landmark decisions that codified the constitutional right to have an abortion.

Peaceful protests coalesced outside of the Supreme Court almost instantaneously after Politico published the potentially forthcoming ruling last Monday.

Conservative Associate Justice Samuel Alito was the author of the document. His fellow right-wing Associate Justices Amy Coney Barrett, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Clarence Thomas were named by Politico's source as the concurring majority.

Over the weekend, additional peaceful demonstrations popped up outside of the homes of Alito, Kavanaugh, and Chief Justice John Roberts, who has distanced himself from the explosive 98-page dismantling of half a century of precedent.

But anti-choice abortion rights foe Cornyn framed the situation as though there was violence.

“Threats to the physical safety of Supreme Court Justices and their families are disgraceful, and attempts to intimidate and influence the independence of our judiciary cannot be tolerated,” he said in a statement, according to The Hill. "I’m glad the Senate quickly approved this measure to extend Supreme Court police protection to family members, and the House must take up and pass it immediately."

Coons added that he was “glad to see this bipartisan bill unanimously pass the Senate in order to extend security protection to the families of Supreme Court members.”

Pro-choice Americans, already terrified by the contents of the Court's majority, are furious. The Senate's scramble to shield the Justices from public scrutiny while they prepare to strip millions of citizens of their reproductive liberties is profoundly poor optics. And the fifty-year failure of congressional Democrats to draft and pass laws to bolster legal protections for reproductive rights adds insult to injury.

That anger was on full display on Twitter throughout Monday evening and continued into Tuesday morning.







There was also outrage directed at Alito, Barrett, Gorsuch, and Kavanaugh for appearing to have lied under oath about their intentions toward Roe and Casey during their respective Senate confirmation hearings.


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