{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.menendez.senate.gov/newsroom/press/menendez-daniel-anderls-death-will-not-be-in-vain", "Menendez: Daniel Anderls Death Will Not be in VainRead More", "2020-12-16", "2020", "2020-12", "Democrat", "House", "NJ", "Robert Menendez", "M000639", "www.menendez.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON,\r\nD.C.  U.S. Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) pledged to continue fighting to\r\nprotect federal judges and their families from violence after his call for\r\nunanimous consent of bipartisan legislation crafted in response to the fatal,\r\ntargeted attack on U.S. District Judge Esther Salas's New Jersey home was\r\nblocked on the floor of the United States Senate. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.)\r\nobjected, insisting that the same privacy protections for appointed judges\r\nunder the bill be afforded to elected Members of Congress. The Daniel Anderl Judicial Security and\r\nPrivacy Act of 2020named\r\nfor Salas's son who was murdered during the violent home invasionwill\r\nsafeguard the personally identifiable information of federal judges and their\r\nimmediate families that could leave them vulnerable to potential threats.\r\nSen. Menendez was joined in the unanimous consent request by his New Jersey\r\ncolleague and bill cosponsor, Sen. Cory Booker. I promised Judge Salas that her son's death would not be\r\nin vain, and we may not have achieved it tonight with Senator\r\nBooker, but we will make this happen, hopefully sooner rather than later, but\r\nwe are going to make this happen, said Sen. Menendez, who\r\nrecommended Judge Salas to President Barack Obama for appointment to the\r\nfederal bench. America's federal judges must be able to render\r\nrulings without fearing for their lives or the lives of their loved ones.\r\nWe must better protect federal judges' personal information from those who\r\nwould seek to do them harm. That's exactly what the Daniel Anderl\r\nJudicial Security and Privacy Act of 2020 will do. CLICK TO\r\nWATCH SEN. MENENDEZ In July, a man,\r\nposing as a FedEx delivery driver, appeared at Judge Salas's home and opened\r\nfire, critically wounding her husband, Mark\r\nAnderl, and killing their 20-year-old son,\r\nDaniel. The gunman, identified by authorities as a men's rights attorney, had\r\npreviously argued a case before Judge Salas and used publicly available\r\ninformation to create a dossier of the judge. Judge Salas later made a\r\npersonal, public plea for greater privacy protections for federal judges. After the\r\nattack on the Anderl-Salas family, Sens. Menendez and Booker\r\npledged to draft legislation to better protect federal judges and their\r\nfamilies. They\r\nunveiled it in September, standing outside Newark\r\nFederal Court where Judge Salas sits,\r\nand worked with the judiciary to address its concerns and incorporate many of\r\nits guiding principles into the final bill. This\r\nlegislation is about standing up for the independence of our federal judiciary\r\nand the safety of all those who serve it, said Sen. Menendez said in\r\nrequesting unanimous consent. This is a commonsense bill, it will\r\nsave lives and I urge my colleagues to approve it without delay. CLICK TO\r\nWATCH SEN. MENENDEZ RESPOND TO SEN. PAUL'S OBJECTIONS The Daniel\r\nAnderl Judicial Security and Privacy Act of 2020 would shield the personally\r\nidentifiable information of federal judges and their immediate family who share\r\ntheir residence, including home addresses, social security numbers, contact\r\ninformation, home or other address displayed on property tax records, vehicle\r\ninformation, photos of their vehicle and home, and the name of the schools and\r\nemployers of their immediate family members. The legislation\r\nestablishes guidelines for federal agencies and commercial data collectors to\r\ncreate safeguards to protect the personal information of active, senior,\r\nrecalled or retired federal judges and their immediate\r\nfamily. It would also authorize the Administrative Office of the U.S.\r\nCourts (AO) to monitor and assess online threats, analyze complaints and\r\naddress acts of aggression and violations, and authorize funding for the United\r\nStates Marshals Service (USMS) to expand their current capabilities. The Senator's\r\nremarks as prepared for delivery: M. President,\r\nI come to the floor today to request unanimous consent for the passage of the\r\nDaniel Anderl Judicial Security and Privacy Act of 2020. This\r\nlegislation is about standing up for the independence of our federal judiciary\r\nand the safety of all those who serve it. Many of you\r\nalready know of the terrible tragedy that recently struck Federal District\r\nJudge Esther Salas and her family. This summer,\r\nan unhinged and violent individual showed up at Judge Salas' home,\r\nimpersonating a package delivery driver. When her\r\n20-year-old son Daniel Anderl answered the door, the assailant opened fire,\r\ntaking the life of her only child and seriously wounding her husband, Mark\r\nAnderl. Unfortunately,\r\nthis tragedy is not the first attack on a federal judge. There was\r\nthe 1979 murder of Judge John Wood in San Antonio, Texas. The 1988\r\nmurder of Judge Richard Daronco in Pelham, New York. The 1989\r\nmurder of Judge Robert Vance in Mountain Brook, Alabama. The 2005\r\nmurder of the husband and mother of Judge Joan Lefkow in Illinois. And there\r\nhave been other attacks as well. In June 2013, Chief Judge Timothy Corrigan was\r\ntargeted by a gunman who purchased the address of his Florida home on the\r\ninternet for a mere $1.95. The gunshot missed his ear by less than two\r\ninches. And just\r\nlast month, a judge's address was circulated on social media, urging people to\r\ngather outside his home while the judge was hearing a high-profile case. According to\r\nthe U.S. Marshals Service, threats against federal judges rose by 500 percent\r\nbetween Fiscal Years 2015 and 2019. This trend\r\nshould worry all those who care about our Constitution. An independent\r\njudiciary in which judges can render decisions without fear of retribution and\r\nviolence is essential to the integrity of our democracy. Indeed, the\r\nidea that any judge at any level of government could be intimidated undermines\r\nthe very concept of the rule of law. We expect\r\nall Americans to have respect for the rule of law, even when they disagree with\r\nthe outcome of a case or a particular ruling. Unfortunately,\r\nthat is not always the case. Some\r\nindividuals delude themselves into believing that violence is the answer. Well, we may\r\nnot be able to eliminate hatred from someone's heart But what we can do is\r\nmake sure the men and women who serve on our federal bench do not make for such\r\neasy targets. That's why\r\nafter Daniel's murder, I made a personal commitment to Judge Salas:  I told her I\r\nwould develop legislation to better protect the men and women who sit on our\r\nfederal judiciary, to ensure their independence in the face of increased\r\npersonal threats on judges, and help prevent this unthinkable tragedy from ever\r\nhappening again to anyone else. The Daniel\r\nAnderl Judicial Security and Privacy Act of 2020 is a bipartisan, bicameral and\r\ncommonsense plan to safeguard the personal information of federal judges and\r\ntheir families. And I want to thank Senators Booker and Graham for leading this\r\neffort with me. Our\r\nlegislation makes it unlawful for data brokers to knowingly sell, trade,\r\nlicense, purchase, or otherwise provide personally identifiable information of\r\na federal judge or their family. Since its\r\nintroduction, we have worked with several stakeholders, including the\r\nAdministrative Office of the U.S. Courts, U.S. Marshalls Office, the American\r\nCivil Liberties Union, among others. Together, we carefully updated legislative\r\nlanguage in order to uphold the First Amendment right of the press to report on\r\nmatters of public concern, and balance that right with our urgent need to\r\nbetter protect the safety of federal judges and their families. Federal\r\njudges and their families will continue to be able to seek relief through the\r\ncourts for the knowing and willful publication of their personal information,\r\nand the party responsible for the violation will have to pay the costs and\r\nreasonable attorney's fees. This bill\r\nenjoys widespread support among judicial and attorney organizations, including\r\nthe National Association of Attorneys General, National Judicial Conference,\r\nthe Federal Judges Association, the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges,\r\nthe American Bar Association, the National Hispanic Bar Association, the\r\nNational Bar Association and several others. M.\r\nPresident, America's federal judges must be able to render rulings without\r\nfearing for their lives or the lives of their loved ones. We must\r\nbetter protect federal judges' personal information from those who would seek\r\nto do them harm. That's\r\nexactly what the Daniel Anderl Judicial Security and Privacy Act of 2020 will\r\ndo. This\r\nlegislation will not bring Judge Salas' son back. But we must ensure, as Judge\r\nSalas said, that his death not be in vain. As she\r\nrecently wrote in the New York Times, Daniel's death is speaking to us, but\r\nwill we listen? For the sake of my brothers and sisters on the bench, Congress\r\nmust act now. Every day that goes by without action leaves our federal judges,\r\nour justice system and our very democracy in danger. M.\r\nPresident, we must protect the independence of our courts, the safety of our\r\njudges, and prevent this sort of tragedy from ever happening again. This is a\r\ncommonsense bill, it will save lives and I urge my colleagues to approve it\r\nwithout delay.  ###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.menendez.senate.gov/newsroom/press/menendez-daniel-anderls-death-will-not-be-in-vain"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.025415025651455, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}