RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — The marshal of the U.S. Supreme Court docket has requested Maryland and Virginia officers to implement legal guidelines she says prohibit picketing outdoors the houses of the justices who reside within the two states.

“For weeks on finish, massive teams of protesters chanting slogans, utilizing bullhorns, and banging drums have picketed Justices’ houses,” Marshal Gail Curley wrote within the Friday letters to Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin and two native elected officers.

Curley wrote that Virginia and Maryland legal guidelines and a Montgomery County, Maryland, ordinance prohibit picketing at justices’ houses, and he or she requested the officers to direct police to implement these provisions.

Justices’ houses have been the goal of abortion rights protests since Could, when a leaked draft opinion advised the court docket was poised to overturn the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade case that legalized abortion nationwide.

The protests and threatening actions have “elevated since Could,” Curley wrote in a letter, and have continued since the court docket’s ruling overturning Roe v. Wade was issued final week.

“Earlier this week, for instance, 75 protesters loudly picketed at one Justice’s residence in Montgomery County for 20-Half-hour within the night, then proceeded to picket at one other Justice’s residence for Half-hour, the place the group grew to 100, and eventually returned to the primary Justice’s residence to picket for one more 20 minutes,” Curley wrote in her letter to Montgomery County Government Marc Elrich. “That is precisely the sort of conduct that the Maryland and Montgomery County legal guidelines prohibit.”

In her letter to Jeffrey McKay, chairman of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, she mentioned one latest protest outdoors an unspecified justice’s residence concerned dozens of individuals chanting, “no privateness for us, no peace for you!”

The letters from Curley had been dated Friday and shared with reporters by a spokesperson for the Supreme Court docket on Saturday.

Curley’s request got here a few month after a California man was discovered with a gun, knife and pepper spray close to the Maryland residence of Supreme Court docket Justice Brett Kavanaugh after telling police he was planning to kill the justice. The person, Nicholas John Roske, 26, of Simi Valley, Calif., has been charged with making an attempt to homicide a justice of america and has pleaded not responsible.

Youngkin and Hogan, each Republicans, have each beforehand expressed considerations concerning the protests. In Could, they despatched a joint letter to Lawyer Normal Merrick Garland asking for federal legislation enforcement assets to maintain the justices secure and implement a federal legislation they mentioned prohibits picketing with the intent to affect a decide.

The direct request by the court docket places it at odds with the Justice Division, which, whereas offering U.S. marshals, has not taken steps to restrict the protests so long as they’re peaceable.

Hogan spokesman Michael Ricci mentioned in a press release Saturday that the governor had directed state police to “additional assessment enforcement choices that respect the First Modification and the Structure.” He additionally mentioned that “had the marshal taken time to discover the matter,” she would have discovered that the constitutionality of the Maryland statute she cited has been questioned by the state Lawyer Normal’s Workplace.

Elrich mentioned he had no recording of getting acquired the letter addressed to him and questioned why it was launched to the press. He mentioned he would assessment it and was prepared to debate it with Curley, however defended the job Montgomery County Police have finished to date.

“In Montgomery County we’re following the legislation that gives safety and respects the First Modification rights of protestors. That’s what we do, whatever the topic of the protests,” he mentioned.

Youngkin spokesman Christian Martinez mentioned the Virginia governor welcomed the marshal’s request and mentioned Youngkin had made the identical request of McKay in latest weeks.

“The Governor stays in common contact with the justices themselves and holds their security as an utmost precedence. He’s in touch with state and native officers on the Marshal’s request for help and can proceed to have interaction on the difficulty of the Justice’s security,” Martinez mentioned.

Youngkin in Could pushed for a safety perimeter across the houses of justices residing in Fairfax County, however McKay rebuffed that request, saying it will infringe on First Modification protest rights.

McKay mentioned Saturday that the county’s place on the difficulty was “unchanged.”

“The legislation cited within the letter is a possible violation of the First Modification, and a earlier court docket case refused to implement it. So long as people are assembling on public property and never blocking entry to personal residences, they’re permitted to be there,” he mentioned.