最高法院的法官们周四举行了首次会议，因为一份显示法院保守派多数的意见草案令人震惊地泄露了出来准备推翻罗伊诉韦德案。
私人会议只对法官开放，任何工作人员或助手都不允许进入。
会议是在堕胎权利活动家没有表现出放缓的迹象聚集在首席大法官约翰·罗伯茨、助理大法官塞缪尔·阿利托和助理大法官布雷特·卡瓦诺的住宅外。
抗议虽然是和平的，但促使司法部长梅里克·加兰(美国最高执法官员)指示增加支持，以确保九名法官的安全。
司法部发言人安东尼·科里周三在一份声明中说:“司法部长加兰继续听取与最高法院和最高法院法官有关的安全问题的简报。”司法部长指示美国法警署通过向最高法院法警和最高法院警察提供额外支持来帮助确保大法官的安全。"
周三，在最高法院外已经“不可逾越”的八英尺高的围栏上安装了额外的高度。该屏障类似于2021年1月6日暴力事件后在美国国会大厦周围设置的屏障，它是在计划于周六举行的大规模抗议活动之前设置的。
尽管没有暴力事件的报道，但最高法院和大法官的安全措施有所加强，因为共和党人继续抨击示威活动。
参议院少数党领袖米奇·麦康奈尔。周四，参议院多数党领袖查克·舒默和白宫不会“谴责骚扰”
麦康奈尔还抨击加兰没有采取更多措施来执行一项法规，一些人说，抗议者在法官占用或使用的建筑或住宅中设置纠察线或游行以影响法官是非法的。
“有人会认为，由前哥伦比亚特区巡回法院首席法官管理的DOJ不需要刺激，不需要刺激来保护司法安全和司法独立。但至少到目前为止，司法部长在学校董事会会议上更快地扑向担忧的家长，”麦康奈尔在参议院说。“马里兰州和弗吉尼亚州的州长不得不给司法部长写一封联名信，恳求他让他的美国检察官履行职责，维护法律。”
马里兰州共和党州长拉里·霍根(Larry Hogan)和弗吉尼亚州共和党州长格伦·扬金(Glenn Youngkin)周三写信给加兰，要求司法部提供“适当的资源，以维护正义，执行法律。”
白宫新闻秘书珍·普萨基星期二对记者说，政府相信和平抗议，“任何形式的暴力、威胁和恐吓在政治对话中都没有一席之地。”
但她也将矛头对准了共和党人，称那些批评这些抗议活动的人“多年来一直对发生在学校董事会成员、密歇根州国务卿之外的抗议活动保持沉默，或者包括对寻求生殖保健的妇女的威胁，甚至是对我们国会大厦的叛乱。”
“我知道现在有一种愤怒，我想，关于迄今为止和平的抗议——我们当然会继续鼓励——在法官家外面，”普萨基补充说。这是总统的立场。但是对于我们已经看到的对许多人的其他恐吓，沉默是相当震耳欲聋的。"
Supreme Court justices meet for 1st time amid fallout from leaked draft abortion opinion
Supreme Court justices met Thursday for the first time since the bombshell leak of a draft opinion showing the Court's conservative majorityis poised to overturn Roe v. Wade.
The private conference is for the justices only, no staff or aides are allowed in the room.
The meeting came asabortion rights activists showed no signs of slowing down, gathering outside the homes of Chief Justice John Roberts, Associate Justice Samuel Alito and Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh.
The protests, while peaceful, have prompted Attorney General Merrick Garland -- the nation's top law enforcement official -- to direct additional support to ensure the safety of the nine justices.
"Attorney General Garland continues to be briefed on security matters related to the Supreme Court and Supreme Court Justices," Justice Department spokesperson Anthony Coley said in a statement on Wednesday. The Attorney General directed the U.S. Marshals Service to help ensure the Justices' safety by providing additional support to the Marshal of the Supreme Court and Supreme Court Police."
On Wednesday, additional height was installed to the already "unscalable" eight-foot-high fence erected outside the Supreme Court last week. The barrier was similar to that placed around the U.S. Capitol after the violence on Jan. 6, 2021 and it comes ahead of a large-scale protest planned for Saturday.
The increased security at the Supreme Court and for the justices comes as Republicans continue to blast the demonstrations, despite no reports of violence.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., on Thursday said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and the White House won't "condemn the harassment."
McConnell also hit Garland for not doing more to enforce a statute some say makes it illegal for protesters to picket or parade with the intent of influencing a judge at a building or residence occupied or used by such judge.
"One would think a DOJ run by the former chief judge of the D.C. Circuit would need no prodding, no prodding to protect judicial safety and judicial independence. But at least so far the attorney general was quicker to pounce on concerned parents at school board meetings," McConnell said on the Senate floor. "The governors of Maryland and Virginia have had to write a joint letter to the attorney general begging him to make his U.S. attorneys do their job and uphold the law."
Maryland GOP Gov. Larry Hogan and Virginia GOP Gov. Glenn Youngkin wrote to Garland on Wednesday asking the Justice Department to provide "appropriate resources to safeguard the Justices and enforce the law as it is written."
White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters Tuesday that the administration believes in peaceful protest, and that "violence, threats and intimidation of any kind have no place in political discourse."
But she also took aim at Republicans, saying those criticizing these protests were "silent for years on protests that have happened outside of the homes of school board members, the Michigan Secretary of State, or including threats made to women seeking reproductive healthcare, or even an insurrection against our Capitol."
"I know that there's an outrage right now, I guess, about protests that have been peaceful to date -- and we certainly continue to encourage that -- outside of judges' homes," Psaki added. "And that's the president's position. But the silence is pretty deafening about all of the other intimidation that we've seen to a number of people."
