Reps. Sherrill, Watson Coleman, Sires, Pascrell, Malinowski, Gottheimer Statement on Supreme Court Police Parity Act
Representatives Mikie Sherrill (NJ-11), Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ-12), Albio Sires (NJ-8), Bill Pascrell (NJ-9), Tom Malinowski (NJ-7), and Josh Gottheimer (NJ-5) released the following statement regarding today’s vote on the Supreme Court Police Parity Act:
“We fully support expanding security for Supreme Court Justices and their families. We also firmly believe that those expanded protections should apply to federal judges and their families, who face similar threats, with less protective resources.
“We stood alongside our friend Judge Esther Salas and voted no today because we could not support passing legislation that continues to ignore the pleas of all federal judges for greater security. Federal judges regularly face threats to their safety as well as their families due to their work to protect our communities and our democracy. Tragically, too often these threats are followed by actual violence. On July 19, 2020, a man who had appeared before Judge Esther Salas in her court came to her door dressed as a FedEx delivery man. He found her address with an easy online search. Her only child, 20-year-old Daniel, answered the door of her home and was shot 3 times and killed. Her husband was shot and is still recovering.
“We believe that Congress had a strong opportunity to improve protections for all federal judges, but the Senate abdicated its responsibility when it ignored our calls for the inclusion of the Daniel Anderl Judicial Security and Privacy Act in this bill. We will not give up fighting for the necessary safeguards our federal judiciary deserves.”