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Supreme Court Rules in Favour of January 6 Rioters
Eko Hot Blog reports that the US Supreme Court ruled that prosecutors went too far in charging January 6 rioters with obstruction for attempting to thwart the certification of the 2020 presidential election, a decision that could lead to the overturning of numerous convictions.
The case centered around former police officer Joseph Fischer, a supporter of ex-president Donald Trump who joined hundreds in breaching the Capitol in Washington, DC on January 6, 2021.
In authoring the majority opinion, Chief Justice John Roberts criticized the prosecutors’ broad application of the law, stating that it could unfairly criminalize ordinary behavior and expose activists and lobbyists to lengthy prison terms.
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Roberts wrote, “The government must establish that the defendant impaired the availability or integrity for use in an official proceeding of records, documents, objects, or other things used in an official proceeding, or attempted to do so.”
The Supreme Court’s decision was reached by a 6-3 vote, with Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson siding with the conservative justices. Justice Amy Coney Barrett, appointed by Trump, authored a dissent joined by liberal justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan.
The case will now return to a lower court, which will reconsider Fischer’s indictment in light of the narrower interpretation of what constitutes “obstruction.”
According to a statement from the Department of Justice, 52 rioters have been convicted and sentenced on obstruction charges, with 27 currently serving prison terms.
Attorney General Merrick Garland noted, “The vast majority of the more than 1,400 defendants charged for their illegal actions on January 6 will not be affected by this decision.”
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