[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 192 (Tuesday, November 2, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7657-S7660]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SA 4198. Mr. MENENDEZ (for himself, Mr. Durbin, Mr. Booker, Mr.
Kennedy, and Mrs. Feinstein) submitted an amendment intended to be
proposed to amendment SA 3867 submitted by Mr. Reed and intended to be
proposed to the bill H.R. 4350, to authorize appropriations for fiscal
year 2022 for military activities of the Department of Defense, for
military construction, and for defense activities of the Department of
Energy, to prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal year,
and for other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as
follows:
At the appropriate place, insert the following:
TITLE _____--JUDICIAL SECURITY AND PRIVACY
SEC. ___01. SHORT TITLE.
This title may be cited as the ``Daniel Anderl Judicial
Security and Privacy Act of 2021''.
SEC. ___02. PURPOSE; RULES OF CONSTRUCTION.
(a) Purpose.--The purpose of this title is to improve the
safety and security of Federal judges, including senior,
recalled, or retired Federal judges, and their immediate
family, to ensure Federal judges are able to administer
justice fairly without fear of personal reprisal from
individuals affected by the decisions they make in the course
of carrying out their public duties.
(b) Rules of Construction.--
(1) In general.--Nothing in this title shall be construed--
(A) to prohibit, restrain, or limit--
(i) the lawful investigation or reporting by the press of
any unlawful activity or misconduct alleged to have been
committed by an at-risk individual or their immediate family;
or
(ii) the reporting on an at-risk individual or their
immediate family regarding matters of public concern;
(B) to impair access to decisions and opinions from a
Federal judge in the course of carrying out their public
functions; or
(C) to limit the publication or transfer of personally
identifiable information that the at-risk individual or their
immediate family member voluntarily publishes on the internet
after the date of enactment of this Act.
(2) Protection of personally identifiable information.--
This title shall be broadly construed to favor the protection
of the personally identifiable information of at-risk
individuals and their immediate family.
SEC. ___03. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) Members of the Federal judiciary perform the important
function of interpreting our Constitution and administering
justice in a fair and impartial manner.
(2) In recent years, partially as a result of the rise in
the use of social media and online access to information,
members of the Federal judiciary have been exposed to an
increased number of personal threats in connection to their
role. The ease of access to free or inexpensive sources of
personally identifiable information has considerably lowered
the effort required for malicious actors to discover where
individuals live, where they spend leisure hours, and to find
information about their family members. Such threats have
included calling a judge a traitor with references to mass
shootings and serial killings, calling for an ``angry mob''
to gather outside a judge's home and, in reference to a
United States courts of appeals judge, stating how easy it
would be to ``get them.''
[[Page S7658]]
(3) Between 2015 and 2019, threats and other inappropriate
communications against Federal judges and other judiciary
personnel increased from 926 in 2015 to approximately 4,449
in 2019.
(4) Over the past decade, several members of the Federal
judiciary have experienced acts of violence against
themselves or a family member in connection to their Federal
judiciary role, including the murder of the family of United
States District Judge for the Northern District of Illinois
Joan Lefkow in 2005.
(5) On Sunday July 19, 2020, an assailant went to the home
of Esther Salas, a judge for the United States District Court
for the District of New Jersey, impersonating a package
delivery driver, opening fire upon arrival, and killing
Daniel Anderl, the 20-year-old only son of Judge Salas, and
seriously wounding Mark Anderl, her husband.
(6) In the aftermath of the recent tragedy that occurred to
Judge Salas and in response to the continuous rise of threats
against members of the Federal judiciary, there is an
immediate need for enhanced security procedures and increased
availability of tools to protect Federal judges and their
families.
SEC. ___04. DEFINITIONS.
In this title:
(1) At-risk individual.--The term ``at-risk individual''
means--
(A) a Federal judge; or
(B) a senior, recalled, or retired Federal judge
(2) Data broker.--
(A) In general.--The term ``data broker'' means a business
or commercial entity when it is engaged in collecting,
assembling, or maintaining personal information concerning an
individual who is not a customer, client, or an employee of
that entity in order to sell the information or otherwise
profit from providing third party access to the information.
(B) Exclusion.--The following activities conducted by a
business or commercial entity, and the collection and sale or
licensing of personally identifiable information incidental
to conducting these activities do not qualify the entity as a
data broker:
(i) Engaging in reporting, newsgathering, speaking, or
other activities intended to inform the public on matters of
public interest or public concern.
(ii) Providing 411 directory assistance or directory
information services, including name, address, and telephone
number, on behalf of or as a function of a telecommunications
carrier.
(iii) Utilizing personal information internally, providing
access to businesses under common ownership or affiliated by
corporate control, or selling or providing data for a
transaction or service requested by or concerning the
individual whose personal information is being transferred.
(iv) Providing publicly available information via real-time
or near-real-time alert services for health or safety
purposes.
(v) A consumer reporting agency to the extent that it is
covered by the Federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C.
1681 et seq.).
(vi) A financial institution to the extent that it is
covered by the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (Public Law 106-102)
and implementing regulations.
(vii) An entity to the extent that it is covered by the
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (Public
Law 104-191).
(3) Federal judge.--The term ``Federal judge'' means--
(A) a justice or judge of the United States, as those terms
are defined in section 451 of title 28, United States Code;
(B) a bankruptcy judge appointed under section 152 of title
28, United States Code;
(C) a United States magistrate judge appointed under
section 631 of title 28, United States Code;
(D) a judge confirmed by the United States Senate and
empowered by statute in any commonwealth, territory, or
possession to perform the duties of a Federal judge; and
(E) a judge of the United States Court of Federal Claims
appointed under section 171 of title 28, United States Code.
(4) Government agency.--The term ``Government agency''
means any department enumerated in section 1 of title 5 of
the United States Code, independent establishment,
commission, administration, authority, board or bureau of the
United States or any corporation in which the United States
has a proprietary interest. The term includes all such
institutions, offices, and any other bodies politic and
corporate of the United States Government created by the
constitution or statute, whether in the executive, judicial,
or legislative branch; all units and corporate outgrowths
created by Executive order of the President or any
constitutional officer, by the Supreme Court of the United
States, or by resolution of the United States Congress.
(5) Immediate family.--The term ``immediate family'' means
a spouse, child, parent, or any other familial relative of an
at-risk individual whose permanent residence is the same as
the at-risk individual.
(6) Personally identifiable information.--The term
``personally identifiable information'' means--
(A) a home address, including primary residence or
secondary residences;
(B) a home or personal mobile telephone number, or the
direct telephone number of a government-issued cell phone or
private extension in the chambers of an at-risk individual;
(C) a personal email address;
(D) the social security number, driver's license number, or
home address displayed on voter registration information;
(E) a bank account or credit or debit card information;
(F) home or other address displayed on property tax records
or held by a Federal, State, or local government agency of an
at-risk individual, including a secondary residence and any
investment property at which an at-risk individual resides
for part of a year;
(G) license plate number or home address displayed on
vehicle registration information;
(H) identification of children of an at-risk individual
under the age of 18;
(I) full date of birth;
(J) a photograph of any vehicle that legibly displays the
license plate or a photograph of a residence that legibly
displays the residence address;
(K) the name and address of a school or day care facility
attended by immediate family; or
(L) the name and address of an employer of immediate
family.
(7) Social media.--The term ``social media'' means any
online electronic medium, a live-chat system, or an
electronic dating service--
(A) that primarily serves as a medium for users to interact
with content generated by other third-party users of the
medium;
(B) that enables users to create accounts or profiles
specific to the medium or to import profiles from another
medium; and
(C) that enables one or more users to generate content that
can be viewed by other third-party users of the medium.
(8) Transfer.--The term ``transfer'' means to sell,
license, trade, or exchange for consideration the personally
identifiable information of an at-risk individual or
immediate family.
SEC. ___05. PROTECTING PERSONALLY IDENTIFIABLE INFORMATION IN
PUBLIC RECORDS.
(a) Government Agencies.--
(1) In general.--Each at-risk individual may--
(A) file written notice of the status of the individual as
an at-risk individual, for themselves and immediate family,
to each Government agency; and
(B) ask each Government agency described in subparagraph
(A) to mark as private their personally identifiable
information and that of their immediate family.
(2) No public posting.--Government agencies shall not
publicly post or display publicly available content that
includes personally identifiable information of an at-risk
individual or immediate family. Government agencies, upon
receipt of a written request in accordance with subsection
(a)(1)(A) of this section, shall remove the personally
identifiable information of the at-risk individual or
immediate family from publicly available content within 72
hours.
(3) Exceptions.--Nothing in this section shall prohibit a
government agency from providing access to records containing
judges' personally identifiable information to a third party
if the third party possesses a signed release from the judge
or a court order, the entity is already subject to the
requirements of title V of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (15
U.S.C. 6801 et seq.), or the third party executes a
confidentiality agreement with the government agency.
(b) State and Local Governments.--
(1) Grant program to prevent disclosure of personal
information of at-risk individuals or immediate family.--
(A) Authorization.--The Attorney General shall make grants
to prevent the release of personally identifiable information
of at-risk individuals and immediate family (in this
subsection referred to as ``judges' personally identifiable
information'') to the detriment of such individuals or their
families to an entity that--
(i) is--
(I) a State or unit of local government (as such terms are
defined in section 901 of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe
Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10251)); or
(II) an agency of a State or unit of local government; and
(ii) operates a State or local database or registry that
contains personally identifiable information.
(B) Application.--An eligible entity seeking a grant under
this section shall submit to the Attorney General an
application at such time, in such manner, and containing such
information as the Attorney General may reasonably require.
(2) Authorization of appropriations.--There is authorized
to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary to provide
grants to entities described in paragraph (1) to create or
expand programs designed to protect judges' personally
identifiable information, including through--
(A) the creation of programs to redact or remove judges'
personally identifiable information, upon the request of an
at-risk individual, from public records in state agencies;
these efforts may include but are not limited to hiring a
third party to redact or remove judges' personally
identifiable information from public records;
(B) the expansion of existing programs that the State may
have enacted in an effort to protect judges' personally
identifiable information;
(C) the development or improvement of protocols,
procedures, and policies to prevent
[[Page S7659]]
the release of judges' personally identifiable information;
(D) the defrayment of costs of modifying or improving
existing databases and registries to ensure that judges'
personally identifiable information is protected from
release; and
(E) the development of confidential opt out systems that
will enable at-risk individuals to make a single request to
keep judges' personally identifiable information out of
multiple databases or registries.
(3) Report.--
(A) In general.--Not later than 1 year after the date of
enactment of this Act, and biennially thereafter, the
Comptroller General of the United States, shall submit to the
Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate and the Committee on
the Judiciary of the House of Representatives an annual
report that includes--
(i) a detailed amount spent by States and local governments
on protection of judges' personally identifiable information;
and
(ii) where the judges' personally identifiable information
was found.
(B) States and local governments.--States and local
governments that receive funds under this section shall
submit to the Comptroller General a report on data described
in clauses (i) and (ii) of subparagraph (A) to be included in
the report required under that subparagraph.
(c) Data Brokers and Other Businesses.--
(1) Prohibition.--
(A) Data brokers.--It shall be unlawful for a data broker
to knowingly sell, license, trade for consideration, or
purchase personally identifiable information of an at-risk
individual or immediate family.
(B) Other businesses.--No person, business, or association
shall publicly post or publicly display on the internet
personally identifiable information of an at-risk individual
or immediate family if the at-risk individual has made a
written request of that person, business, or association to
not disclose the personally identifiable information of the
at-risk individual or immediate family.
(C) Exceptions.--The restriction in subparagraph (B) shall
not apply to--
(i) the display on the internet of the personally
identifiable information of an at-risk individual or
immediate family if the information is relevant to and
displayed as part of a news story, commentary, editorial, or
other speech on a matter of public concern;
(ii) personally identifiable information that the at-risk
individual voluntarily publishes on the internet after the
date of enactment of this Act; or
(iii) personally identifiable information received from a
Federal Government source (or from an employee or agent of
the Federal Government).
(2) Required conduct.--
(A) In general.--After a person, business, or association
has received a written request from an at-risk individual to
protect personally identifiable information of the at-risk
individual or immediate family, that person, business, or
association shall--
(i) remove within 72 hours the personally identifiable
information from the internet and ensure that the information
is not made available on any website or subsidiary website
controlled by that person, business, or association; and
(ii) ensure that the personally identifiable information of
the at-risk individual or immediate family is not made
available on any website or subsidiary website controlled by
that person, business, or association.
(B) Transfer.--After receiving an at-risk individual's
written request, no person, business, or association shall
transfer the personally identifiable information of the at-
risk individual or immediate family to any other person,
business, or association through any medium, except where the
at-risk individual's or immediate family member's personally
identifiable information is relevant to and displayed as part
of a news story, commentary, editorial, or other speech on a
matter of public concern. The restriction on transfer shall
also not apply to personally identifiable information that
the at-risk individual or immediate family voluntarily
publishes on the internet after the date of enactment of this
Act.
(d) Delegation of Authority.--
(1) In general.--Upon written request of the at-risk
individual, the Director of the Administrative Office of the
United States Courts is authorized to make any notice or
request required or authorized by this section on behalf of
the at-risk individual. The Director may delegate this
authority under section 602(d) of title 28, United States
Code. Any notice or request made under this subsection shall
be deemed to have been made by the at-risk individual and
compliant with the notice and request requirements of this
section.
(2) List.--In lieu of individual notices or requests, the
Director may provide government agencies, State and local
governments, data brokers, persons, businesses, or
associations with a list of at-risk individuals and their
immediate family for the purpose of maintaining compliance
with this section. Such list shall be deemed to comply with
individual notice and request requirements of this section.
(e) Redress and Penalties.--
(1) In general.--An at-risk individual or immediate family
member whose personally identifiable information is made
public as a result of a violation of this title may bring an
action seeking injunctive or declaratory relief in any court
of competent jurisdiction. If the court grants injunctive or
declaratory relief, the person, business, or association
responsible for the violation shall be required to pay the
at-risk individual's or immediate family member's costs and
reasonable attorney's fees.
(2) Penalties and damages.--Upon a knowing and willful
violation of any order granting injunctive or declarative
relief obtained pursuant to this subsection, the court
issuing such order may--
(A) if the violator is a public entity, impose a fine not
exceeding $4,000 and require the payment of court costs and
reasonable attorney's fees;
(B) if the violator is a person, business, association, or
private agency, award damages to the affected at-risk
individual or immediate family in an amount up to a maximum
of 3 times the actual damages, but not less than $10,000, and
require the payment of court costs and reasonable attorney's
fees.
SEC. ___06. TRAINING AND EDUCATION.
There is authorized to be appropriated to the Federal
judiciary such sums as may be necessary for biannual judicial
security training for active, senior, or recalled Federal
judges and their immediate family, including--
(1) best practices for using social media and other forms
of online engagement and for maintaining online privacy;
(2) home security program and maintenance;
(3) understanding removal programs and requirements for
personally identifiable information;
(4) any other judicial security training that the United
States Marshals Services and the Administrative Office of the
United States Courts determines is relevant.
SEC. ___07. VULNERABILITY MANAGEMENT CAPABILITY.
(a) Authorization.--
(1) Vulnerability management capability.--The Federal
judiciary is authorized to perform all necessary functions
consistent with the provisions of this title, and to support
existing threat management capabilities within the United
States Marshals Service and other relevant Federal law
enforcement and security agencies. Such functions may
include--
(A) monitor the protection of at-risk individuals and
judiciary assets;
(B) manage the monitoring of websites for personally
identifiable information of at-risk individuals or immediate
family and remove or limit the publication of such
information; and
(C) receive, review, and analyze complaints by at-risk
individuals of threats, whether direct or indirect, and
report to law enforcement partners.
(2) Technical and conforming amendment.--Section 604(a) of
title 28, United States Code is amended--
(A) in paragraph (23), by striking ``and'' at the end;
(B) by redesignating paragraph (24) as paragraph (25);
(C) by inserting after paragraph 23 the following:
``(24) Establish and administer a vulnerability management
program in the judicial branch; and''.
(b) Expansion of Capabilities of Office of Protective
Intelligence.--There is authorized to be appropriated such
sums as may be necessary to the United States Marshals
Service to expand the current capabilities of the Office of
Protective Intelligence of the Judicial Security Division to
increase the workforce of the Office of Protective
Intelligence to include additional intelligence analysts,
United States deputy marshals, and any other relevant
personnel to ensure that the Office of Protective
Intelligence is ready and able to perform all necessary
functions, consistent with the provisions of this title, in
order to anticipate and deter threats to the judiciary,
including--
(1) assigning personnel to State and major urban area
fusion and intelligence centers for the specific purpose of
identifying potential threats against the judiciary, and
coordination of responses to potential threats.
(2) expanding the use of investigative analysts, physical
security specialists, and intelligence analysts at the 94
judicial districts and territories to enhance the management
of local and distant threats and investigations; and
(3) increasing the number of United States Marshal Service
personnel for the protection of the judicial function and
assigned to protective operations and details for the
judiciary.
(c) Report.--
(1) In general.--Not later than one year after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Department of Justice, in
consultation with the Administrative Office of the United
States Courts, shall submit to the Committee on the Judiciary
of the Senate and the Committee on the Judiciary of the House
of Representatives a report on the security of Federal judges
arising from the Federal prosecutions and civil litigation.
(2) Description.--The report required under paragraph (1)
shall describe--
(A) the number and nature of threats and assaults against
at-risk individuals handling prosecutions and other matters
described in paragraph (1) and the reporting requirements and
methods;
(B) the security measures that are in place to protect the
at-risk individuals handling prosecutions described in
paragraph (1), including threat assessments, response
procedures, availability of security systems and other
devices, firearms licensing such as
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deputations, and other measures designed to protect the at-
risk individuals and immediate family of an at-risk
individual; and
(C) for each requirement, measure, or policy described in
subparagraphs (A) and (B), when the requirement, measure, or
policy was developed and who was responsible for developing
and implementing the requirement, measure, or policy.
SEC. ___08. SEVERABILITY.
If any provision of this title or the application of such
provision to any person or circumstance is held to be
unconstitutional, the remainder of this title and the
application of such provision to any person or circumstance
shall not be affected thereby.
SEC. ___09. EFFECTIVE DATE.
This title shall take effect upon the date of enactment of
this Act, except for subsections (b)(1), (c), and (e) of
section [___05], which shall take effect on the date that is
120 days after the date of enactment of this Act.
______