Thank you for bringing that up. Is there something in law to enforce against harassment or threatening behavior in those situations? Judges are bound in rules and procedures of at least some states against opinions based on fear (to put it loosely), but there are strong legal remedies against trying to scare judges. Do such remedies exist for attorneys and election board members?
I’m not a lawyer but have volunteered for a narrow interest activity in the past (family rights). Disclaimer: There’s *no* legal advice from anyone in this discussion. It’s only an informal discussion concerning policies.
Making terroristic threats and some other forms of harassment are, of course, crimes in most states, and are usually punished more severely if committed against a public servant, which in some cases would include an election board member. Disrupting official proceedings and obstructing the discharge of public duties are also usually crimes. In the age of anonymous online communications, enforcement is difficult and rare, of course.
Of course, some of the complained-of harassment was accusations of racism. That is not a crime, of course, but may subject the accuser to liability for damages for defamation. Of course, defamation lawsuits are tough to win, and many of the accusers here probably don’t have much money from which to collect damages (they’re “judgment-proof” in lawyer-speak).
I don’t know of any state laws providing special protections for attorneys. Judges have the power to impose sanctions or hold people in contempt for harassing opposing lawyers or parties, but that power extends only to punishing the parties and lawyers who are actually before the judge, not the general public.
Linda Kerns, the lawyer who took over the Pennsylvania litigation after Porter Wright withdrew, filed a motion asking the judge to impose sanctions on the PA Secretary of State’s lawyers because an associate from their firm, Kirkland & Ellis, left Kerns a harassing voicemail. The opposing lawyers argued that the associate had nothing to do with the case, that the associate was acting only in his individual capacity, and that the call was “discourteous” but not harassing. The judge denied Kerns’ motion after Kerns withdrew from the lawsuit.