Why are they not speaking up?
Despite a law that forbids attempts to “influence” federal officials and the outcomes of lawsuits, the Department of Justice has remained mum on abortion protests aiming to do that.
Since Sunday (May 8), pro-abortion protestors have been targeting the homes of six Republican Supreme Court Justices to demonstrate, following the leak of the draft opinion that could see Roe v. Wade being overturned.
According to Federal U.S. code 1507, such protesting likely breaks the law. The law states that individuals who participate in “pickets or parades” with the intention of “interfering with, obstructing, or impeding the administration of justice, or with the intent of influencing any judge, juror, witness, or court officer… near a building or residence occupied or used by such judge” will face a fine, or be “imprisoned not more than one year, or both.”
Despite protestors breaking the law by demonstrating outside Supreme Court Justices’ private residences, Attorney General Merrick Garland and the Department of Justice have not issued any public statements addressing the protests.
Andy McCarthy, a fellow at the National Review Institute, drew a contrast between the DOJ’s response to parents protesting outside schools and these recent pro-abortion protests.
McCarthy noted, “months ago, when Attorney General Garland unjustifiably dispatched the FBI to investigate parents who were protesting the inclusion of racist and anti-American materials in school curricula, Garland claimed that the Justice Department had an interest in protecting teachers and school administrators. Not only was it untrue that schools were under siege; the relationship between parents and schools is a state and local issue, not a federal one — hypothetically, if a parent were to assault a teacher, it would be a state crime, not a federal one.”
McCarthy continued, “By contrast, the protection of the Supreme Court as an institution, and of the justices’ security, are patently federal matters over which federal law-enforcement has clear jurisdiction,” saying that the silence by the DOJ is “inexcusable.”
