It's Time to Get Involved.

Relevance to Generation Z: The judiciary branch of government is supposed to be an impartial protector of Americans' Constitutional rights; however, public access to judges' personal information through the internet can cause extreme public criticism which can be problematic and result in endangering the lives of the judges. The Supreme Court justices and other judges play a vital role in the American democratic legal system. When their safety is threatened, so are the Constitutional rights of the American people and the leanings of the court. 

Roy Den Hollander, who killed Judge Esther Salas's son before taking his own life, may have intended to target Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayer. 

On July 19th, a gunman opened fire in a home in North Brunswick, NJ, killing 20-year old Daniel Anderl, son of U.S. District Court Judge Esther Salas and defense attorney Mark Anderl, and injuring his father, Mark Anderl. The gunman, posing as a delivery person, later took his own life. He was later discovered to be Roy Den Hollander, an anti-feminist, men's rights activist lawyer who had pleaded a case in front of District Court Judge Esther Salas in 2015. 

Recently, in an interview on CBS News "60 Minutes," Judge Salas reported that authorities found a dossier on Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor in a locker belonging to Roy Den Hollander. Salas said, "They found another gun, a Glock, more ammunition. But the most troubling thing they found was a manila folder with a workup on Justice Sonia Sotomayor." 

Salas is now working on legislation that would better protect judges' personal information from being published on public forums to prevent other judges from being the victims of targeted violence as she was. 

In the past, Chief Justice Roberts has commented on the security concerns of the judges by stating, "Justices know that criticism comes with the territory, but threatening statements of this sort from the highest level of government are not only inappropriate, but they are also dangerous."

- Molly Alexander

Source: CNN