Idaho senators back bill to stop leaking addresses
American senses Jim Risch and Mike Crapo of Idaho have co-sponsored a bill that would ban public disclosure of the home addresses of government employees.
PA
US senators from Idaho have proposed a bill they say would limit targeted protests to the homes of elected officials.
US Senators Jim Risch and Mike Crapo have joined nine other Republican senators in sponsoring a bill banning the public disclosure of government employees’ home addresses.
The bill comes after US Supreme Court justices faced protests at their homes this week. A leaked draft opinion showed the nation’s highest court could overturn Roe v. Wade, a landmark decision that underscored people’s abortion rights.
“Intimidating Supreme Court justices is a federal crime, but our justices are terrorized in their own homes and they and their families are subject to threats of violence,” Risch said in the press release. “Allowing public servants to remove their personal addresses from online websites in order to protect themselves and their families is common sense.
In Idaho, the protests haven’t just targeted the state’s top officials — instead, judges, police, prosecutors, doctors, lawmakers and health department officials have all have been the subject of protests from right-wing or anti-government groups.
Spokespersons for Crapo and Risch told the Idaho statesman that they support the Civil Servants Protection Act, in part because of protests outside the homes of Supreme Court justices. But they said there was also a growing trend of protests at officials’ homes across the country.
“Public officials and their families should not be subjected to protests or acts of violence in their private homes,” Crapo said in a press release. “Free speech should not be used as a weapon to intimidate or threaten others, and public officials should have the right to remove their addresses from the public domain.”
Crapo’s spokeswoman, Melanie Lawhorn, told the Statesman via email that the senator also reported protests in front of prominent Democrats, Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D.N.Y., and Teng Biao, Chinese dissident and human rights activist.
“While the right to assemble and speak freely is essential to democracy, there are justifiable restrictions on this,” Lawhorn said. “This worrying trend of targeting private homes in protest should be stopped.”
According to invoice text, it would cover “any officer or employee of a state, political subdivision of a state, or tribal government”. Risch spokesman Marty Cozza said the bill would extend to federal, state, tribal and local officials.
If passed, the law would give officials the power to sue anyone who publicly discloses their address for $1,000 or actual damages, whichever is greater.
The protests outside the homes of elected officials received mixed reviews from congressional delegates.
Schumer told reporters at a press conference Tuesday, he has no problem with people protesting outside his home or the judges as long as they are peaceful.
Senator Susan Collins, R-Maine, called police over the weekend when she found a chalked message outside her home to ‘please…vote yes’ on a bill that would have codified the right to abortion, Bangor Daily News reported. The bill failed on Wednesday, with Collins voting no.
Idaho lawmakers want to ban targeted picketing
In 2021, Rep. Chaney, R-Caldwell, and Rep. Brooke Green, D-Boise, sponsored a bill that would have banned picketing or protesting outside someone’s home. The bipartisan bill died in the House on a 38-31 vote.
Green – who supports the federal bill – told the Statesman by phone that the couple hoped to bring the bill back in next year’s legislative session. Both MPs are up for re-election this year.
Federal law would prohibit the disclosure of public servants’ home addresses, but it does not prohibit people from visiting public servants’ homes. Green and Chaney’s bill would have made targeted picketing a misdemeanor.
“Their bill doesn’t – in my opinion – go far enough,” Green told the Statesman.
The legislation was a direct response to targeted protests that took place in 2020 against COVID-19 public health orders. A protest prompted a member of the Central District Health Board to abruptly leave a meeting to face a agitated crowd outside his home, where only his 12-year-old son was at the time.
At the HRC protest, Crapo and Risch co-signed a statement with other GOP leaders “vehemently” condemning individuals who harassed or intimidated public officials.
Lawhorn told the Statesman this week that “Crapo’s condemnation of harassment and intimidation at the private residence of any public official stands.”
Protesters also showed up at Chaney’s home in February 2021 after the bill was introduced.
Chaney – who supports the federal bill – told the Statesman that the picketing is a bipartisan issue, as Idaho has seen more far-right protests, while recent protests in Washington DC are left-leaning.
“This is frankly an attempt to undermine our institutions and our republic, in favor of mob mentality and mob rule – and I don’t care who does it,” Chaney told the Statesman.
Chaney and Green said both bills are important, but the localized bill would focus on every citizen and not just government officials.
“We can’t attack people in our community for doing their jobs at home,” Green told the Statesman.