Rand Paul Blocks Bill To Protect Federal Judges' Information After Death Of NJ Judge's Son

NEW JERSEY — A gunman targeting Federal Court Judge Esther Salas in July 2020 killed her son Daniel, 20, when he opened the door to their Mercer County home. Two years later, senators voted on a bill to protect judges' personal information — but not all lawmakers agreed.

The Daniel Anderi Judicial Security and Privacy Act of 2021, a bipartisan effort of Congress, stops companies from buying or selling personal information about judges, and restricts government agencies from posting it.

It also provides funding to state and local government to redact the information from records.

Congress did pass legislation in 2021 to increase security for Supreme Court judges and their families, but when it came time to pass the Privacy Act for federal judges, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul blocked it.

This month, an attempt was made to pass the law quickly to get the protections in place, which required a unanimous vote in the Senate.

But Paul blocked it last week, after declining to meet and discuss the matter with Judge Salas, who'd returned to work 7 months after her son was killed.

A team of American journalists "witnessed Salas' effort to confront Paul in the Dirksen Senate Office Building," said a report. "He shook her hand as he appeared, but he then kept walking down a long hall, saying that if she wanted to talk to him, she would have to make an appointment with his office. The judge replied, 'Senator, you won't talk to me?' and he repeated, 'If you've got an appointment. Call the office, please.' "

New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez, who introduced the bill in the Senate, was critical of Paul for blocking the bill.

Paul said he blocked the bill because he believes language should be added to it in order to protect members of Congress, too.

But Menendez and New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker said that the language would merely hold the bill up.

Paul's move forced the bill "to meet the 60-vote threshold needed to avoid a filibuster," noted Spotlight New Jersey.

Booker said it was unfair to hold up the bill "to hold up the protection of other fellow citizens because we're not getting protection."

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy signed a similar statewide law, "Daniel's Law," in November 2020. The law amends the Open Public Records Act to restrict documents that include personal details about judges, prosecutors, and members of law enforcement, and prevents governments from publishing those details.

A self-proclaimed men's-rights attorney, Roy Den Hollander, 72, committed the crime against Salas, and was later found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.