Seven N.J. House members use vote on Supreme Court security to protest failure to pass federal Daniel’s Law

Nearly two years after the 20-year-old son of a federal judge was viciously murdered by a deranged lawyer, Congress has still not passed a law that would ban the home addresses of judges from being available on the Internet.

In protest of the delay in the passage of Daniel’s Law, named after U.S. District Court Judge Esther Salas’ son, Daniel Anderl, seven New Jersey Democrats voted against a measure that would extend police protection to the immediate families of U.S. Supreme Court Justices.

The lawmakers – Josh Gottheimer (D-Wyckoff), Mikie Sherrill (D-Montclair), Tom Malinowski (D-Ringoes), Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-Paterson), Donald Payne, Jr. (D-Newark), Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-Ewing) and Albio Sires (D-West New York) – wanted to raise attention to pass the bill.

“Federal judges are being targeted, a son of one has been killed, and some of my colleagues are refusing to offer any protections,” said Gottheimer.  “Why don’t some of my colleagues care about the safety of all federal judges?”

Sherrill said that some New Jersey House members We stood alongside our friend Judge Esther Salas and voted no today because we could not support passing legislation that continues to ignore the pleas of all federal judges for greater security.

“We fully support expanding security for Supreme Court Justices and their families,” Malinowski stated.  “We also firmly believe that those expanded protections should apply to federal judges and their families, who face similar threats, with less protective resources.

The proposal passed the Senate in May and gained steam in the House last week following the arrest of an armed man outside the home of Justice Brett Kavanaugh.

Anderl was shot and killed on July 19, 2020 when the gunman, posing as a Federal Express delivery driver, opened fire.  The judge’s husband, Mark Anderl, was seriously wounded in the shooting.   The lawyer, Roy Den Hollander, who committed suicide after the killing, had located the Salas home on the Internet.

The New Jersey legislature quickly passed a similar state law protecting current and former judges and prosecutors, but the federal version of the bill, the Daniel Anderl Judicial Security and Privacy Act, stalled in the U.S. Senate after Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) sought to attach his push to extend the same privacy protections to Senate and House members.