NJSBA HQ New Jersey State Bar Association Headquarters, New Brunswick, NJ. Credit: Google

Capitol Report

Last week, Sens. Robert Menendez and Cory Booker, along with Rep. Mikie Sherrill, re-introduced a bipartisan bill that would protect the privacy of judges and their families. The Daniel Anderl Judicial Security and Privacy Act of 2021 would increase resources in the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS) and the Department of Justice to monitor and assess online threats, maintain records, investigate complaints and address acts of aggression and violations. It authorizes the USMS to hire additional intelligence analysts and other personnel to ensure the agency is able to anticipate and deter threats at the federal level. The New Jersey State Bar Association (NJSBA) has been a vocal supporter of this and other laws to protect judges and foster judicial independence.

"The Daniel Anderl Judicial Security and Privacy Act is an important and necessary step to protect our jurists and their families. Even more, this legislation will fortify the independence of the Judiciary that our country holds in the highest regard," said NJSBA President Domenick Carmagnola.

Last year, New Jersey passed Daniel's Law, which amends the Open Public Records Act to exclude from the definition of a government record the portion of any document that discloses the home address of any active or retired judge or any active or retired prosecutor. The bill also enables those individuals to request that the information be removed.