Justices seek security funding as threats rise

What's happened

Two sitting Supreme Court justices have testified before Congress, urging a budget increase to expand personal protection and enhance security amid rising threats to judges nationwide. The hearing followed a landmark term and highlighted concerns about ethics oversight and court transparency.

What's behind the headline?

The calculus of security in an embattled judiciary

• The justices have publicly faced increased threats, and Congress is weighing a substantial security-focused budget
• The move signals a shift toward higher protection levels for the judiciary, with technology tied to preventive measures
• The public debate may shape judicial independence and trust in institutions, as lawmakers insist on transparency

What this means for readers

• High-profile threats could influence where and how judges operate
• Readers should watch how the ethics framework evolves and how budget allocations translate into on-the-ground protections

How we got here

The Supreme Court is requesting a 10% boost to its annual budget to fund expanded security for the nine justices, a larger police presence, new cybersecurity measures, and an off-site residential security post. This comes after a wave of threats and high-profile incidents against judges and their families, including swatting and bomb threats in recent years.

Our analysis

- The Guardian reports that Justice Barrett has described personal threats and the need for expanded protection; - The New York Times and BBC corroborate the increase in threats and the court's budget request; - Axios emphasizes the rising threat level and budgetary allocations; - CNBC and AP News provide details on swatting incidents and ongoing security enhancements.

Go deeper

• Will Congress approve the proposed budget increase this year?
• How might expanded security affect the public perception of the Supreme Court?
• What ethics reforms are likely to accompany greater transparency and security?

More on these topics

• Elena Kagan - Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States

  Elena Kagan is an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, nominated by President Barack Obama on May 10, 2010, and confirmed by the U.S. Senate on August 5, 2010. She is the fourth woman to serve as a Justice of the Supreme Court. Kag

• Amy Coney Barrett - United States federal judge

  Amy Vivian Coney Barrett (née Coney; born January 28, 1972) is an American lawyer and jurist serving since 2020 as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. The fifth woman to serve on the court, she was nominated by President Donald Trump. She was a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit from 2017 to 2020. Barrett graduated from Rhodes College before attending Notre Dame Law School, earning a Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree in 1997 and ranked first in her class. She then clerked for Judge Laurence Silberman and Justice Antonin Scalia. In 2002, Barrett joined the faculty at Notre Dame Law School, becoming a professor in 2010. While a circuit judge, she continued to teach civil procedure, constitutional law, and statutory interpretation. On September 26, 2020, shortly after United States Supreme Court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's death, Trump nominated Barrett to succeed her. Her nomination was controversial because the 2020 presidential election was only 38 days away and Senate Republicans had refused to hold hearings for Merrick Garland during an election year in 2016. The next month, the United States Senate voted...

• Donald Trump - 45th and 47th U.S. President

  Donald John Trump is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party, he served as the 45th president from 2017 to 2021.

• United States - Country in North America

  The United States of America, commonly known as the United States or America, is a country mostly located in central North America, between Canada and Mexico.

• Brett Kavanaugh - Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States

  Brett Michael Kavanaugh is an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. He was nominated by President Donald Trump to succeed Anthony Kennedy and took the oath of office on October 6, 2018.

• John Roberts - Chief Justice of the United States

  John Glover Roberts Jr. is the 17th and current Chief Justice of the United States, serving in this role since 2005. Roberts was born in Buffalo, New York, but grew up in northwest Indiana and was educated in a private school.

• Washington, D.C. - Capital of the United States of America

  Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington or D.C., is the capital of the United States.

• Supreme Court of the United States - Court

  The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States of America. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all federal and state court cases that involve a point of federal law, and original jurisdict

• Supreme Court - Court

  The supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in many legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high court of appeal.

• Charleston - City in South Carolina

  Charleston is the largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The city is the county seat of Charleston County, and the principal city in the Charleston–North Charleston–Summerville Metropolitan Statistical Area.

• Rosa DeLauro - U.S. Representative

  Rosa Luisa DeLauro is the U.S. Representative for Connecticut's 3rd congressional district, serving since 1991. She is a member of the Democratic Party. The district is based in New Haven, and includes most of that city's suburbs. She is currently the dea

• Roe v. Wade - Court case

  Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113, was a landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in which the Court ruled that the Constitution of the United States protects a pregnant woman's liberty to choose to have an abortion without excessive government restriction.

• South Carolina - US State

  South Carolina is a state in the Southeastern United States and the easternmost of the Deep South. It is bordered to the north by North Carolina, to the southeast by the Atlantic Ocean, and to the southwest by Georgia across the Savannah River.

• Capitol Hill - Residential neighborhood in Washington, D.C., United States

  Capitol Hill, in addition to being a metonym for the United States Congress, is the largest historic residential neighborhood in Washington, D.C., stretching easterly in front of the United States Capitol along wide avenues.

• Clarence Thomas - Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States since 1991

  Clarence Thomas (born June 23, 1948) is an American lawyer and jurist who has served since 1991 as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Nominated by President George H. W. Bush to succeed Thurgood Marshall, Thomas is the second.