The U.S. Senate yesterday approved a bipartisan bill to boost security for Supreme Court justices to ensure their families are protected, the Associated Press reports. The measure does not provide additional funding for security, but makes a technical change that allows law enforcement to provide round-the-clock security to immediate family members of the justices. The bill comes amid protests around the country over a leaked draft opinion that suggests the high court is poised to overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade decision. The measure now heads to the U.S. House for consideration.

Legislation that would subject U.S. Supreme Court justices and federal judges to tougher disclosure requirements for their financial holdings and stock trades passed the House of Representatives this week, Reuters reports. The bill won Senate passage in February and now goes to President Joe Biden for his signature. The legislation, which won bipartisan support, was introduced last fall after the Wall Street Journal reported that more than 130 federal judges had failed to recuse themselves from cases involving companies in which they or their family members owned stock. Yahoo News has the story.

U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland recently urged a Senate committee to confirm chief prosecutor nominees and give law enforcement additional resources amid fears of rising violent crime, Bloomberg Law reports. Garland said the delay in getting U.S. attorney nominees confirmed is having “a negative effect on our ability to fight violent crime, cyber crime, all of the responsibilities that the United States attorneys and the marshals have.” Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Arkansas, has placed a hold on all Justice Department nominees citing concerns about the department’s handling of Black Lives Matter litigation. Garland also urged senators to approve the administration’s request for an 8.2% boost in spending on law enforcement and $8.2 billion in grants to support state and local policing. Read his full statement.

Tennessee Attorney General Herbert H. Slatery III and District of Columbia Attorney General Karl Racine have announced creation of bipartisan coalition of 53 attorneys general who are urging Congress to pass The Public Safety Officer Support Act of 2022. The legislation addresses gaps in support for public safety officers who become disabled by post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or lose their lives to trauma-linked suicide, the pair say. In a letter to members of Congress, the attorneys general praise the work of public safety officers who respond to stressful and potentially traumatic situations and note, that compared to the general public, these public servants are 25.6 times more likely to develop PTSD and face increased risks of suicide. The coalition joins a number of law enforcement groups also on record supporting the legislation.

The Senate Judiciary Committee deadlocked on Ketanji Brown Jackson’s Supreme Court nomination today with a vote of 11-11, The Hill reports. Under Senate rules, the full chamber now must vote to formally discharge the nomination from the committee, which was expected to happen this evening. So long as the motion to discharge passes, the Senate plans to begin debate on the nomination tomorrow. Three Republicans, Susan Collins of Maine, Mitt Romney of Utah and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska have said they will support Jackson.

Tennessee Sen. Marsha Blackburn is teaming up with Senator Cory Booker, D-NJ, to co-sponsor legislation that would place limitations on how the NCAA handles its investigations, the Nashville Post reports. “The NCAA has a well-established history of backroom deliberations that produce unfair punishments for athletes, coaches and universities,” said Blackburn. “With the emergence of new name, image and likeness (NIL) rules, it is more important than ever to address the systematic failures that have eroded league fairness.” Blackburn and Booker say their bill would tackle four new parameters for NCAA investigations: establishing due process; promoting fairness, consistency and accountability; enabling enforcement from the Department of Justice; and evaluating legal standing of any ongoing investigation.

The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee yesterday announced it will meet April 4 for a vote on Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court. Committee Chair Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Illinois, said the panel will reconvene at 10 a.m. EDT for a vote that would advance Jackson’s nomination to the full floor. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-New York, has said he hopes to hold a final confirmation vote before the Senate’s expected Easter recess, which begins on April 8. Yahoo News has the story.

The Tennessee General Assembly agreed Monday to ban newcomers from running for U.S. House and Senate seats and make the ban effective for the next election, the Nashville Post reports. The Tennessee House had preferred delaying the effective date until after this year’s election but the Senate argued it should go into effect immediately. Following negotiations, the House adopted the Senate language. If signed by Gov. Bill Lee, the measure could keep Trump-backed candidate Morgan Ortagus and music video producer Robby Starbuck from running in the state’s newly redrawn 5th Congressional District. Some have questioned the constitutionality of the measure since the U.S. Constitution specifically lays out requirements for congressional candidates, which do not include residency rules other than the candidate live in the state. In related news, Punchbowl News reported today that the Tennessee Conservative PAC is planning to fund a lawsuit to overturn the bill.

The Senate Judiciary Committee held the third day of hearings and a second day of questioning today for Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson. Questions from Republican senators continued to center on the judge’s track record on sentencing, especially in child pornography cases. Jackson pushed back on the questions saying, “no one case can stand in for my entire record.” When asked if she regretted some of the sentences, which fell below the sentencing guidelines, she said, “What I regret is that in a hearing about my qualifications to be a justice on the Supreme Court, we’ve spent a lot of time focusing on this small subset of my sentences.” Republicans on the committee also asked today to get copies of pre-sentencing reports related to the cases in question. Committee Chair Dick Durbin, D-Illinois, said that move would be unprecedented and could negatively impact victims. The Hill has a wrap up of the day. Tomorrow, the committee will hear from a number of outside groups, including the ABA.

U.S. Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson on Tuesday defended her record as a federal judge during the second day of confirmation hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee, the Associated Press reports. Jackson strongly pushed back against suggestions that she was too lenient on child pornographers. In response to accusations that her rulings have endangered children, Jackson said, “nothing could be further from the truth.” Tuesday’s hearing was the first of two days of questioning after Jackson and the 22 members of the panel gave opening statements on Monday. On Thursday, the committee will hear from legal experts before an eventual vote to move her nomination to the Senate floor. Watch a live stream on the committee’s website.