During testimony in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee Wednesday afternoon, Attorney General Merrick Garland was corned by Republican Senator Ted Cruz about why the Department of Justice has failed to bring charges against raucous individuals illegally descending on the homes of conservative Supreme Court Justices.

 

As Cruz noted in his remarks, over the summer and to this day, conservative Supreme Court Justices have been targeted at their homes — at all hours of the night — and chased down at their houses of worship. The children of Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett were hunted down and harassed at their school.

Title 18, Section 1507 of the U.S. Code, on picketing or parading, states: “Whoever, with the intent of interfering with, obstructing, or impeding the administration of justice, or with the intent of influencing any judge, juror, witness, or court officer, in the discharge of his duty, pickets or parades in or near a building housing a court of the United States, or in or near a building or residence occupied or used by such judge, juror, witness, or court officer, or with such intent uses any sound-truck or similar device or resorts to any other demonstration in or near any such building or residence, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both.”

Despite it being illegal to picket outside the home of a judge or juror with the intention to change court outcomes through intimidation, Garland has done nothing to deter or prosecute the behavior. For months the White House refused to condemn the illegal acts and in fact, encouraged more of it.

Last summer, a man was arrested outside the home of Justice Brett Kavanaugh with the intent and tools to assassinate him. President Joe Biden failed to condemn or directly acknowledge the situation.