Wis. Lawmakers Pass Bill on Judges' Privacy; NJ Measure Would Protect State Legislators
A Wisconsin bill amending a state law protecting the privacy of judges passed the legislature this week. Meanwhile, in the wake of the shooting deaths earlier this month of former Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman (D) and her husband and the attempted killing of John Hoffman (D), a Minnesota senator, and his wife, a New Jersey assemblyman floated a bill to expand Daniel’s Law to additionally prohibit disclosure of state legislators’ personal information.
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The Wisconsin Assembly passed SB-169 on Tuesday, about a week after the Senate approved it June 18. It still needs the signature of Gov. Tony Evers (D).
SB-169 makes changes to the existing law's provisions, “including those relating to the procedure for submitting a written request, the prohibition against publicly posting or displaying a judicial officer’s personal information, the requirement that an operator of a land records website establish an opt-out process, and the enforcement mechanisms,” said a summary. The bill is similar to an Assembly bill that received a hearing in May (see 2505070047).
In New Jersey, Assemblyman Christopher DePhillips (R) introduced AB-5875 on Monday. The bill, which “expands the scope of Daniel's Law to also include members of the legislature,” responds “to the violent attacks, on June 13, 2025, against two Minnesota state lawmakers … and their [immediate] family members, at their home,” said a statement attached to the bill.
The New Jersey Supreme Court upheld Daniel’s Law in a decision last week, rejecting a journalist’s First Amendment challenge to the statute, which aims to protect certain public officials' personal information (see 2506180038).