State Rep. Kelly Breen (D-Novi) gives testimony in the House Judiciary Committee on Feb. 14 in the Anderson House Office Building.
LANSING, Mich., Oct. 25, 2024 — A bill increasing personal protections for judges was voted out of the Senate Committee on Civil Rights, Judiciary and Public Safety on Thursday. House Bill 5724, also known as the Judicial Protection Act, would prohibit the posting of personally identifying information about a judge or the judge’s immediate family members, including their address, state or federal information and information about their daily life. The bill’s advancement came the same day that a federal case detailing a convicted felon from Macomb County charged with threatening to kill a federal magistrate judge was unsealed, according to The Detroit News. State Rep. Kelly Breen (D-Novi), who sponsored the bill, issued the following statement:
“Judges are integral to the justice process, and we must ensure they can do their jobs without fearing for the safety of themselves and their loved ones. The Macomb County case is just one example of why we need to protect our judges’ personal information from potentially dangerous actors. My heart goes out to the judge and the judge’s family involved in this case whose safety was threatened. We must have our judges’ backs — this bill would make certain that our judges can continue delivering justice knowing that their personal information is protected and that their loved ones are safe.”
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