Protecting Judicial Privacy Act of 2026

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Chairman Phil Mendelson 2
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A BILL 5
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IN THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA 9
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To prohibit government agencies, individuals, businesses, and private associations and 14
organizations from, upon receipt of a written request, publicly displaying publicly 15
available content that includes a judicial officer's personal information. 16
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BE IT ENACTED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, That this 18
act may be cited as the “Protecting Judicial Privacy Act of 2026”. 19
Sec. 2. Definitions. 20
(1) “Government agency" means any agency, employee, or instrumentality of the 21
District government. 22
(2) "Home address" includes a judicial officer's permanent residence and any 23
secondary residences affirmatively identified by the judicial officer, but does not include a 24
judicial officer's work address. 25
(3) "Immediate family" includes a judicial officer's spouse, child, parent, or any 26
blood relative of the judicial officer or the judicial officer's spouse who lives in the same 27
household as the judicial officer. 28
(4) "Judicial officer" includes actively employed or retired: 29
(A) Justices of the United States Supreme Court; 30
(B) Judges of the United States Court of Appeals; 31
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(C) Judges and magistrate judges of the United States District Court; 32
(D) Judges of the United States Bankruptcy Court; 33
(E) Judges of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals; and 34
(F) Judges and magistrate judges of the Superior Court of the District of 35
Columbia. 36
(5) "Personal information" means a home address, home telephone number, 37
mobile telephone number, pager number, personal email address, social security number, federal 38
tax identification number, checking and savings account numbers, credit card numbers, marital 39
status, and identity of children under the age of 18. 40
(6) "Publicly available content" means any written, printed, or electronic 41
document or record that provides information or that serves as a document or record maintained, 42
controlled, or in the possession of a government agency that may be obtained by any person or 43
entity, from the Internet, from the government agency upon request either free of charge or for a 44
fee, or in response to a request under the Freedom of Information Act. 45
(7) "Publicly display" means to communicate to another or otherwise make 46
available to the general public, including through publication on the internet and social media 47
applications. 48
(8) "Written request" means written notice signed by a judicial officer or a 49
representative of the judicial officer's employer requesting a government agency, person, 50
business, or association to refrain from posting or displaying publicly available content that 51
includes the judicial officer's personal information. 52
Sec 3. Prohibition on publicly displaying a judicial officer's personal information by 53
government agencies. 54
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(a) A government agency shall not publicly display publicly available content that 55
includes a judicial officer's personal information, provided that the government agency has 56
received a written request in accordance with this act that it refrain from disclosing the judicial 57
officer's personal information. 58
(b) After a government agency has received a written request, that agency shall remove 59
the judicial officer's personal information from publicly available content within 5 business days. 60
After the government agency has removed the judicial officer's personal information from 61
publicly available content, the agency shall not publicly post or display the information and the 62
judicial officer's personal information shall be exempt from the Freedom of Information Act 63
unless the government agency has received consent from the judicial officer to make the personal 64
information available to the public. 65
(c) If a government agency fails to comply with a written request to refrain from 66
disclosing personal information, the judicial officer may bring an action seeking injunctive or 67
declaratory relief in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. 68
Sec. 4. Prohibition on publicly displaying a judicial officer's personal information on the 69
Internet by persons, businesses, associations or other private organizations. 70
(a)(1) No person, business, association or other private organization shall publicly post or 71
display on the Internet, including but not limited to, Internet phone directories, Internet search 72
engines, Internet data aggregators, and Internet service providers, publicly available content that 73
includes a judicial officer's personal information, provided that the judicial officer has made a 74
written request to the person, business, association or other private organization that it refrain 75
from disclosing the personal information. 76
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(2) No person, business, association, or other private organization shall solicit, 77
sell, or trade on the Internet, including but not limited to, Internet phone directories, Internet 78
search engines, Internet data aggregators, and Internet service providers, a judicial officer's 79
personal information with the intent to pose an imminent and serious threat to the health and 80
safety of the judicial officer or the judicial officer's immediate family. 81
(b) After a person, business, association, or other private organization has received a 82
written request from a judicial officer to protect the privacy of the officer's personal information, 83
that person, business, association, or other private organization shall have 48 hours to remove the 84
personal information from the Internet. 85
(c) After a person, business, association, or other private organization has received a 86
written request from a judicial officer, that person, business, association, or other private 87
organization shall ensure that the judicial officer's personal information is not made available on 88
any website or subsidiary website controlled by that person, business, association, or other 89
private organization. 90
(d) After receiving a judicial officer's written request, no person, business, association, or 91
other private organization shall transfer the judicial officer's personal information to any other 92
person, business, association, or other private organization through any medium. 93
(e) A judicial officer whose personal information is made public as a result of a violation 94
of this act may bring an action seeking injunctive or declaratory relief in the Superior Court of 95
the District of Columbia. If the Court grants injunctive or declaratory relief, the person, business, 96
association, or other private organization responsible for the violation shall be required to pay the 97
judicial officer's costs and reasonable attorney's fees. 98
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Sec. 5. Written request requirement. 99
(a) No government agency, person, business, association, or other private organization 100
shall be found to have violated any provision of this act if the judicial officer fails to submit a 101
written request calling for the protection of the judicial officer's personal information. 102
(b) A written request shall be valid if: 103
(1) The judicial officer sends a written request directly to the government agency, 104
person, business, association, or other private organization; or 105
(2) If the Mayor establishes a policy and procedure for a judicial officer to file the 106
written request with the Mayor to notify government agencies, the judicial officer may send the 107
written request to the Mayor. 108
(A) Each year, the Mayor shall provide the Council with information on 109
the number of judicial officers who have submitted a written request to the Mayor under this act. 110
(c) A representative from the judicial officer's employer may submit a written request on 111
the judicial officer's behalf, provided that: 112
(1) The judicial officer gives written consent to the representative; and 113
(2) The representative agrees to furnish a copy of that consent when a written 114
request is made. The representative shall submit the written request as provided in subsection (b) 115
of this section. 116
(d)(1) A judicial officer's written request shall specify what personal information shall be 117
maintained private. 118
(2) If a judicial officer wishes to identify a secondary residence as a home address 119
as that term is defined in this act, the designation shall be made in the written request. 120
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(3) A judicial officer shall disclose the identity of the officer's immediate family 122
and indicate that the personal information of these family members shall also be excluded to the 123
extent that it could reasonably be expected to reveal the personal information of the judicial 124
officer. 125
(e) A judicial officer's written request is valid until the judicial officer provides the 126
government agency, person, business, association, or other private organization with written 127
permission to release the private information. 128
(f) A judicial officer's written request expires on death. 129
Sec. 6. Fiscal impact statement. 130
The Council adopts the fiscal impact statement of the Chief Financial Officer as the fiscal 131
impact statement required by section 4a of the General Legislative Procedures Act of 1975, 132
approved October 16, 2006 (120 Stat. 2038; D.C. Official Code § 1-301.47a). 133
Sec. 7. Effective date. 134
This act shall take effect following approval by the Mayor (or in the event of veto by the 135
Mayor, action by the Council to override the veto), and a 30-day period of congressional review 136
as provided in section 602(c)(1) of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act, approved December 137
24, 1973 (87 Stat. 813; D.C. Official Code § 1-206.02(c)(1)). 138
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