AG Wilson joins coalition urging Congress to pass laws protecting federal judges and their families

COLUMBIA, SC (WOLO)– In a statement released Monday, South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson announced that he joined a bipartisan coalition made up of 51 Attorney’s General encouraging Congress to pass laws aimed at protecting the safety of federal judges and their families. The coalition says they wrote a letter to both the House and Senate Judiciary committees urging them to pass the Daniel Anderl Judicial Security and Privacy Act or similar laws.

The bill is named in honor of Daniel Anderl, the late son of Judge Esther Salas from New Jersey, who was killed when a man showed up at the judge’s home in July and shot both Daniel and his father. Daniel was killed as a result of the incident while his father survived. The bill would protect the confidentiality of personal identifying information of federal judiciary members in the public record while prohibiting the distribution of information online by data brokers. The bill would also give state and local governments the same authority to adopt these safety measures.

“An independent judiciary, free from threat or coercion, is essential to our democracy,” Attorney General Wilson said. “Judges have a very difficult job and their rulings can trigger strong emotions that can lead some people to violence, as we’ve seen, unfortunately. For these judges who uphold the rule of law, we need to make sure the law does everything possible to protect them and their families.”

According to officials, four U.S. federal judges have been killed since 1979 and the number of threats against federal judges has been on the rise in the past several years.