Protests at the homes of the six Supreme Court justices, ironically including Chief justice John Roberts who is presumed not to be part of the majority in the Dobbs case, began after a pro-abortion group published their home addresses for this purpose. The division between those who support protests of this nature and those who do not is proceeding as expected on social media.
What does the White House have to say about these protests?
But the Biden White House doesn’t seem to care that angry mobs have gone to the homes of six conservative Supreme Court justices to protest the likely overturning of Roe v. Wade after a draft document stating such, authored by Justice Samuel Alito, was leaked earlier this week. A liberal firestorm followed, as the overturning of the 1973 decision would send abortion law back to the states.
One liberal group, “Ruth Sent Us,” has published online the home addresses of Justices Alito, Amy Coney Barrett, Neil Gorsuch, Clarence Thomas, Brett Kavanaugh and Chief Justice John Roberts. Several of these justices have children at home, including Barrett, who has seven.
“Our 6-3 extremist Supreme Court routinely issues rulings that hurt women, racial minorities, LGBTQ+ and immigrant rights. We must rise up to force accountability using a diversity of tactics,” the group said earlier this week.
What’s meant by “force accountability” is unclear. What purpose is served by protesting at all, no less protesting at the homes of justices, is unclear. But they protest nonetheless, and many argue, usually by analogy, that it’s either justified or comparable to other protests, such as protests at abortion clinics where women have been subject to attack and intimidation for years. Despite the flawed comparisons, these arguments are sufficient for those who choose to believe and embrace any rationalization to support their engagement in protests.
When asked about the president’s position on these protests, the White House press secretary came up empty.
Fox News White House correspondent Peter Doocy asked White House press secretary Jen Psaki about the planned protests earlier this week.
“Do you think that progressive activists that are now planning protests outside some of the justices’ houses are extreme?” asked Doocy.
“Peaceful protest? No, peaceful protest is not extreme,” Psaki retorted.
The norm of not protesting against government officials at their homes has given way over the past five years, although those protests involved political officials and not the judiciary. Doocy asked whether the president support this shift in norms.
“The president’s view is that there’s a lot of passion, a lot of fear, a lot of sadness from many, many people across this country about what they saw in that leaked document,” Psaki said. “We obviously want people’s privacy to be respected. We want people to protest peacefully if they want to protest. That is certainly what the president’s view would be.”
“I don’t have an official U.S. government position on where people protest,” she added.
There’s no doubt that there’s “a lot of passion” being felt around the country, but that isn’t responsive to the question, any more than saying they “obviously want people’s privacy to be respected.” By not condemning protests at the homes of Supreme Court justices, President Biden is tacitly approving these protests.
Even though protests at the homes of government officials are hardly novel, protests at the homes of judges and justices, whose jobs are explicitly and intentionally insulated from popular whim, breaks through another wall of propriety. Is Biden suggesting that mob rule should be used to influence the judiciary? If not, is he simply unwilling to take the bold move of condemning these protests for fear they will attack him next for his failure to be supportive of their passion?
It’s unlikely that any condemnation by the president will change anything on the street. It’s not as if he’s respected by progressives who consider him a failure for not imposing their agenda by magic or fiat. But the fact that Biden has failed to take a position on protests at the homes of justices, suggests that this norm has fallen along with the protests of political officials and the attacks of the unduly passionate in restaurants and on the street.
As of now, the protests have been peaceful. Hopefully, they will stay that way.
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