Supreme Court Justices Amy Coney Barrett and Elena Kagan appeared before Congress on July 14 to ask for more cash to beef up security.
The request comes amid increasing threats to members of the court over the last few years, especially following the leak of an opinion overturning Roe v. Wade.
In her opening statement, Barrett told the representatives that the security threats had forced her children to “think about and see things that children should not have to see or think about.”
“Maybe I lack imagination, but I didn’t expect that performing this service was going to put me in the position of explaining to my children what a bulletproof vest was and why I had to wear one,” Barrett told the House Appropriations Committee.
She also mentioned an incident from May when her teenage son was on his way out to meet friends, only to see police cars surrounding their house. Someone had called in a false report of “gun shots and raised voices” in the home, a practice known as “swatting.”
Fortunately, she said, her personal security team was able to diffuse the situation.
