By M.D. Kittle

MADISON — Three-quarters of American voters oppose protests at the private homes of Supreme Court justices, according to a new poll by Convention of States Action.

The poll of more than 1,000 likely voters, conducted by national pollster The Trafalgar Group, also found more than half of those surveyed believe President Biden’s refusal to publicly condemn abortion activists doxxing justices will only encourage protests to turn violent.

“These numbers make it clear that the Biden Administration’s refusal—both to forcefully condemn these illegal demonstrations and to enforce laws protecting Justices of the United States Supreme Court—is wildly unpopular with voters,” said Mark Meckler, president of Convention of States Action, a conservative organization leading the charge for an Article V convention of states to propose constitutional amendments checking the power of the federal government.

In the wake of the leaked Supreme Court majority draft opinion that could overturn Roe v. Wade, abortion supporters have been protesting outside the homes of conservative justices.

The COS poll, conducted May 6-8, found:

• 8 of American voters believe that publishing the home address of 5 conservative U.S. Supreme Court Justices and calling for protests at their homes, is not an acceptable way to protest the High Court’s decision on Roe v. Wade.
• 9 percent of American voters believe that publishing the home address of 5 conservative U.S. Supreme Court Justices and calling for protests at their homes is an acceptable way to protest the High Court’s decision on Roe v. Wade.
• 3 percent are unsure.

Meanwhile, a bi-partisan supermajority of voters opposes publishing the home addresses of Supreme Court justices and demonstrating at their homes, including nearly 67 percent of Democrats.

And 52.3 percent of respondents believe the Biden administration’s refusal to condemn abortion activists who dox Supreme Court justices and call for protests at their homes will encourage demonstrations to become potentially unlawful and violent.

Legal experts say protesting at the justices’ homes isn’t just morally concerning, it’s probably illegal.

A 1950 federal statute states it is illegal, “with the intent of influencing any judge,” to:

• picket or parade “in or near a building or residence occupied or used by such judge, juror, witness, or court officer”
• “or with such intent,” to resort “to any other demonstration in or near any such building or residence”

As the Washington Post reports:

In 1988’s Frisby v. Schultz, the court upheld a local Wisconsin law that banned protesting targeted at a specific home, as long as protesters were allowed to march through a neighborhood.

Two decades earlier, in 1965, the court upheld a Louisiana law that echoed the federal law’s prohibition on picketing at a court. The laws were enacted amid an outcry over allies of Communist Party defendants picketing federal courthouses.

“A State may adopt safeguards necessary and appropriate to assure that the administration of justice at all stages is free from outside control and influence,” the court ruled in Cox v. Louisiana. “A narrowly drawn statute such as the one under review is obviously a safeguard both necessary and appropriate to vindicate the State’s interest in assuring justice under law.”

It’s clear Americans don’t like protesters popping by the homes of Supreme Court justices.

“While this poll cannot measure the outrage that Americans feel because of this politically-driven double standard of injustice, in which supporters of a radical leftist agenda can essentially do whatever they want while good citizens suffer, voters’ outrage will be expressed at the polls in November,” Meckler said.

“From the riots in our cities they encouraged and supported, to refusing to condemn protesting at the private homes of Justices of the United States Supreme Court, Democrats are out of step with the vast majority of Americans, regardless of political party.”