Law.com has
Federal Judges Got the Power to Remove Their Private Info From the Internet—And They're Using It -- The new program has arrived—and thrived—as members of Congress and the public have expressed concern about the federal government’s efforts to remove information online and sought more accountability of the judiciary.
- As threats against the federal judiciary are reportedly on the rise, one thousand federal judges have enrolled in a program which allows for the removal of their private information from the internet.
- The new data comes from an annual report from the Director of the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. It details how a new office of threat management has assisted “judges in removing or redacting their [private identifying information] from online locations.”
- Two-thousand and three hundred judges are eligible for the program.
- The power to remove this information was made permanent after the passage of the Daniel Anderl Judicial Security and Privacy Act, attached to the National Defense Authorization Act of 2023, in December.
According to a 2022 report from the U.S. Marshals Service, the agency which protects the judiciary, 4,511 “threats and inappropriate communications against protected persons” were reported. The agency protects a total of 30,300 persons. A 2020 report from the agency said 4,449 threats and inappropriate communications were reported.
