Two Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States testified before Congress on 14 July, demanding additional security funding for court members. Amy Kony Barrett indicated that threats against her and other judges had increased significantly and had affected personal and family life.
Budget request increased by approximately 10 per cent
The Supreme Court applied for a total budget of $228 million for the next fiscal year, an increase of about 10 per cent over the previous year. Of this amount, approximately $18 million will be used for court buildings and site maintenance.
Of the increase in the budget, $14.6 million is proposed for the expansion of the personal security configuration of the Chief Justice, with six additional security personnel for each Chief Justice. An additional $2 million will be required for the establishment of residential security posts in the diaspora to reduce emergency response time and to increase the number of Supreme Court officers.
Barrett mentioned the vest experience.
At the hearing, Barrett said that she had come home in bulletproof vests a few years ago and had to explain to his 12-year-old son what that was, why she had to wear it. She also mentioned that, in May this year, a “false alarm” incident had occurred at her home, which the police later confirmed as a deliberate attempt to induce the police to act.
The recent ruling criticized the warming.
U.S. Marshals are responsible for the security of federal judges. The Agency ' s data show that during the federal fiscal year up to September last year, 564 threats were recorded, up from the previous year. This figure covers all federal judges of the United States, and the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court is also among the targets.
This hearing was only two weeks before the end of the main sentence of the current term of office of the Supreme Court. In the meantime, the Court issued a number of important decisions, including a decision to extend President Donald Trump ' s influence on federal regulatory bodies, and a decision to veto its wide-ranging tariff measures, which subsequently provoked strong criticism against individual judges.
Additional information:This is the first time since 2019 that the Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court has appeared before Congress. Chief Justice John Roberts stated in March this year that public criticism of judicial decisions was understandable, but that it was dangerous to direct hostility to judges personally.