Elected officials say home addresses should not be public

BOISE, Idaho — Idaho’s U.S. senators have proposed a bill they say would limit targeted protests at the homes of elected officials.

U.S. Sens. Jim Risch and Mike Crapo joined nine other Republican senators in sponsoring a bill that would prohibit public disclosure of government employees’ home addresses.

The proposed legislation comes after U.S. Supreme Court justices faced protests at their homes this week. A leaked draft opinion showed the nation’s highest court might overturn Roe v. Wade, a landmark ruling that outlined people’s rights to an abortion.

“Intimidating Supreme Court justices is a federal crime, yet our justices are being terrorized in their own homes and they and their families subjected to threats of violence,” Risch said in the news release. “Permitting public servants to delist their home addresses from online websites in order to protect themselves and their families is common sense.”

In Idaho, protests haven’t just targeted the state’s highest officials — instead judges, police officers, prosecutors, doctors, lawmakers and health department officials have all been the subject of protests from right-wing or anti-government groups.

Spokespersons for Crapo and Risch told the Idaho Statesman they support the Public Servant Protection Act, in part because of the protests outside Supreme Court justices’ homes. But they said there has also been a rising trend of protests at officials’ homes throughout the nation.

“Public servants and their families should not be subjected to protests or acts of violence at their private homes,” Crapo said in a news release. “The freedom of speech should not be used as a weapon to intimidate or threaten others, and public officials should have the right to remove their address from the public domain.”

Crapo’s spokesperson Melanie Lawhorn told the Statesman by email that the senator also pointed to protests outside prominent Democrats, Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Teng Biao, a Chinese dissident and human rights activist.

“While the right to assemble and speak freely is essential to democracy, there are justifiable restraints on such,” Lawhorn said. “This disturbing trend of targeting private homes for protest should be stopped.”

According to the text of the bill, it would cover “any officer or employee of a state, a political subdivision of a state, or a tribal government.” Risch’s spokesperson Marty Cozza said the bill would extend to federal, state, tribal and local officials.

If passed, the act would give officials the authority to sue anyone who publicly disclosed their addresses for $1,000 or actual damages — whichever is greater.