US Attorney General Says Threats Against Supreme Court Taken 'Extraordinarily Seriously'

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - US Attorney General Merrick Garland said the Justice Department takes any potential threat against US Supreme Court justices extraordinarily seriously and supports a bill headed to President Joe Biden’s desk for his signature that offers them extra protection.

"So the Justice Department takes extraordinarily seriously any violence, threats of violence, intimidation, harassment of the justices or any government officials. For that reason, we swiftly moved to provide 24-7 protection for the justices including their residences," Garland said at a presser on Wednesday.

Garland said he also met and conferred with judges and other officials, pledged the Justice Department's support for legislation that was working its way through Congress. Passage of the measure gained urgency because of the furor surrounding the leak of a draft opinion indicating that the Supreme Court justices voted to overturn Roe v Wade.

Pro-choice advocates and activists have been protesting at various justices’ homes and in front of the Supreme Court since the leak. Republicans who support scuttling the landmark legislation have been calling for increased protection for the judges.

The House voted on Tuesday for a bill that provides round-the-clock security protection for families of Supreme Court justices. The importance of this measure is illustrated by a recent incident of a California man who threatened to kill Justice Brett Kavanaugh and was arrested near his house armed with a firearm, knife and zip ties.

The high court decision is expected to come down in the next few weeks. If the majority of the court overturns Roe v Wade, it will end 50 years of constitutional protections for a woman’s right to an abortion. About 23 states are poised to ban or severely restrict access to legal abortions and critics say it will disproportionately harm Black women, immigrants, undocumented immigrants and LGBTQ individuals who are pregnant.