Protesters marching outside the private homes of Supreme Court justices may draw attention, but polling released this morning by the Judicial Crisis Network suggests it’s mostly negative.
Sixty-one percent of registered voters say these kinds of protests undermine our democracy, while 60% want President Joe Biden to condemn them — including a slim majority of Democrats at 51%. More than half, 61%, also want Attorney General Merrick Garland to enforce existing federal law that prohibits protesting “in or near a building or residence occupied or used” by a judge “with the intent of influencing” a judicial outcome.
Voters felt even more strongly about calls for a “summer of rage” that followed the Dobbs decision, with 84% of all respondents and 82% of Democrats agreeing that violence should be prosecuted. Similar amounts, 85% of both groups, said violence and vandalism undermine our democracy.
Thirty-five percent of voters said they would be “less likely” to support elected officials who “refuse to speak out against the acts of violence against a pregnancy center.” Twenty percent of Democrats agreed, along with 61% of independents. Voters clearly aren’t impressed with certain Democratic lawmakers’ reluctance to condemn the dozens of attacks on pregnancy centers.
Even Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s neighbors who otherwise consider themselves pro-choice have been speaking up to the media about the disruptive protests that visit their street every Wednesday. Multiple neighbors have contacted Montgomery County law enforcement, asking them to enforce laws against picketing a private residence.
Democratic leaders by and large still refuse to condemn these tactics, with some openly supporting them. Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), shortly after the Dobbs leak, said he didn’t have a problem with protests outside of justices’ private homes. When Kavanaugh was forced by protesters to leave a steakhouse in early July, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) sarcastically tweeted, “Poor guy. He left before his souffle because he decided half the country should risk death if they have an ectopic pregnancy within the wrong state lines. It’s all very unfair to him.” Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) recently came out against pregnancy centers altogether, advocating shutdowns across the country and accusing centers of “torture.”
Given the numbers, it’s hard to call Democrats’ constant attempts to demonize pregnancy centers and ignore disruptive protests a winning strategy.
