The New Mexico House of Representatives approved a measure earlier this month that seeks to protect judges and their immediate families from violent threats and doxing.
House Bill 99 garnered a 59-7 vote in the lower chamber and was sent to the Senate Judicial Committee on Feb. 11, according to the state legislature’s website.
The 30-day legislative session ended on Feb. 17.
State Rep. T. Ryan Lane (R-Aztec), an attorney, was one of the bill’s five co-sponsors.
“It’s vital that we keep our judicial process neutral, objective, and free from any outside influence,” Lane said, according to Albuquerque CBS affiliate KRQE.
Under the legislation, it will be a felony to threaten a judge or any members of their immediate family, retaliate against a court’s actions, and disrupt the judicial process.
Sharing a judge’s personal information will be classified as a misdemeanor.
Judges from the lower courts all the way to the New Mexico Supreme Court will be afforded protection through the bill, KRQE reported.
There were 10 reported threats to judges last year, according to the station, with the likelihood that many more have gone unreported.