The leaked draft of a Supreme Court abortion decision marked a changing point in security for the historically cloistered institution, which has long drawn public scrutiny and protest but now has further entrenched as a reaction to perceived threats to safety.
On Capitol Hill, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. gave final approval to surrounding the Supreme Court building with unscalable fencing, the kind that went up after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol across First Street NE.
Capitol Police put down concrete barricades to shut that street down to traffic, as near daily crowds of both anti-abortion and abortion rights advocates filled the sidewalk outside the court, the more typical spot for protests about decisions.
