Justice Amy Coney Barrett revealed that her 12-year-old son walked into her bedroom and found a bulletproof vest — a chilling reminder of the violent threats targeting Supreme Court justices and their families.
Barrett and Justice Elena Kagan made a rare joint appearance before Congress on Tuesday, the first time sitting justices have testified on Capitol Hill since 2019. They appeared before the House Appropriations Subcommittee to defend the Supreme Court’s 2027 fiscal year budget request of $228.3 million — a 10% increase that includes $14.6 illion dedicated solely to securing justices’ homes and protecting their families.
“My security detail sent me home with a bulletproof vest. I carried it into my house, put it into my bedroom, dropped it down on the table, turned around, and my 12-year-old son was standing in the middle of my bedroom. He wanted to know what it was and why I had it … I didn’t know how to respond. They have required me [and] my children to think about and see things that children should not have to see or think about.”
Both justices stressed that the threats have impacted them on a personal level — specifically their day-to-day lives and families.
Kagan told the subcommittee that the Supreme Court police expect a 38% annual increase in threats this year, following a 25% increase last year.
“For some of us, those threats have come very close indeed. And all of us live with the knowledge that they may again materialize.”
About six weeks before her testimony, Barrett disclosed that her family had been the target of a swatting incident — a false report claiming there was gunfire and yelling inside her home — which prompted a large police response at her doorstep.
She recounted that one of her teenage sons opened their front door to meet friends, only to be met by a street filled with squad cars. Fortunately, Supreme Court police officers stationed at the residence intercepted the arriving local authorities, convincing them the report was a hoax before anyone tried to enter the home.
Several other justices have similarly demanded heightened security. These judicial safety concerns have escalated alongside a rise in online harassment, doxxing, and physical threats. Perpetrators are increasingly turning to tactics like swatting as well as weaponized, unsolicited food deliveries, officials say.
Barrett noted that these targeted unsolicited deliveries are sometimes placed under the name of Daniel Anderl — the late son of U.S. District Judge Esther Salas. Daniel was fatally wounded in 2020 by a lawyer posing as a FedEx delivery driver at the family’s New Jersey home.
The tragedy led to the passage of New Jersey’s “Daniel’s Law” and the federal Daniel Anderl Judicial Security and Privacy Act in December 2022, both of which shield judges’ and lawmakers’ personal data from the public.
Despite the escalating intimidation tactics, Kagan vowed that the bench remains unshaken, pledging that the justices will continue deciding cases “without fear or favor.”
