Last night the US Senate passed The Daniel Anderle Judicial Security and Privacy Act, a bill to protect the personal information of federal judges that was attached to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). Since that time used to rent the House last week, the bill will now head to President Joe Biden’s desk.
The bill was co-sponsored by two New Jersey residents, Sen. Bob Menendez and Rep. Mickey Sherrill (D-Montclair), who have both been pushing for its passage ever since. murder of U.S. District Court Judge Esther Salas’ son Daniel Anderl at their home in North Brunswick in July 2020.
In a joint statement released last night, Menendez, Sherrill and Sen. Cory Booker praised Congress for finally taking action after a series of false starts.
“In the following days [the murder of Anderl], we gave a personal oath to Judge Salas,” they said. “We vowed to act quickly and never stop fighting until we pass legislation that honors Daniel’s legacy by protecting judges and their families from future threats. With today’s Senate passage of the Daniel Underle Judicial Security and Privacy Act, we kept our promise — taking a decisive step toward protecting judges who serve on the federal bench.”
The bill was brought up for a vote in the Senate several times, but it was blocked Senator Rand Paul (R-Kentucky); these setbacks led to a strategy to attach the bill to the NDAA, which is binding legislation.
New Jersey has its own version of the bill, signed the law by Gov. Phil Murphy in November 2020. Another proposal would extend similar protections to elected officials and candidates statewide: is currently under discussion in the state legislature.
