Judicial Protection Bill Wins Emotional Testimony, Committee Hears Details but Takes No Vote

The House Judiciary Committee on Monday heard testimony on House Bill 43-97, the Judicial Protection Act, a measure that would allow judges to request that certain personally identifying information (PII) about themselves and immediate family members be withheld from public display to reduce the risk of doxxing and violence.

Judge Salas recounted the 2020 attack on her family that killed her son Daniel and seriously wounded her husband, and she urged the committee to adopt protections for judges. "This lawyer disguised as a FedEx driver came up to our front door ... and took the life of my only child, Daniel," she told the panel, and described ongoing threats and harassment directed at judges nationwide, including deliveries meant to intimidate. She said sealing PII would make "your judges in Michigan ... safer." The committee heard the testimony at the start of the bill hearing; no legislative action was taken.

Judge David McKeague, a senior judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, said Congress passed a federal law limiting access to federal judges' PII but that state-held records remain exposed. "By my last count, 37 other states are…