February 8, 2024
By Bill Raftery
2024 legislative sessions started in January and already over 35 pieces of legislation have been filed to protect judges, court staff, and their families. Similar to bills introduced in 2022 and 2023, most of the 2024 proposals fall into three categories:
- Prohibits government agencies and entities from releasing personally identifiable information (PII) regarding judges, court staff, or their families. An example is Wisconsin A.B. 966, which provides that “A government agency may not publicly post or display publicly available content that includes a judicial officer’s personal information, provided that the government agency has received a written request . . . that it refrain from disclosing the judicial officer's personal information.”
- Prohibits the publication of personally identifiable information (PII) regarding judges, court staff, or their families. These further break down into two categories:
- Bills that allow the judge or other protected individual to seek a civil order directing the removal of the information. An example of this type of legislation is Maryland’s H.B. 664/S.B. 575 also known as the Judge Andrew F. Wilkinson Judicial Security Act, named after a Maryland judge shot and killed in 2023. Under the proposed measure, a judge, their spouse, or child could request a person who has published their PII to remove the information. If the removal does not take place, the judge, spouse, or child could seek declaratory and/or injunctive relief as well as be awarded punitive damages from the poster.
- Bills to make it a criminal offense to post such information. An example is New Jersey A.B. 1339, which provides in part that “A person shall not knowingly, with purpose to expose another to harassment or risk of harm to life or property, or in reckless disregard of the probability of such exposure, post or publish on the Internet any personal identifying information of any federal, state, or municipal judicial officer or retired judicial officer, or any immediate family member thereof. A reckless violation of this subsection is a crime of the fourth degree. A purposeful violation of this subsection is a crime of the third degree.”
- Creates or expands existing laws to penalize threats or intimidation of judges. One example is Wyoming S.F. 30, which amends an existing statute (W.S. 6‑5‑305(a)), that criminalizes intimidating or impeding a juror or witness to now include intimidating or impeding a judge.
A complete list of all legislation introduced on judicial security in 2024 can be found on the Gavel to Gavel website (www.ncsc.org/gaveltogavel) or sign up for the weekly newsletter published during state spring legislative sessions. For previous Trending Topics on the history of judicial security legislation see February 2022, February 2023, and August 2023.
Is your state also trying to protect the personal information of judges and court staff? Email us at Knowledge@ncsc.org or call 800-616-6164 and let us know. Follow the National Center for State Courts on Facebook, X, LinkedIn, and Vimeo. For more Trending Topic posts, visit ncsc.org/trendingtopics or subscribe to the LinkedIn newsletter.