The Supreme Court has altered the phrasing of events regarding Jan 6 in a landmark ruling which quashes hundreds of convictions by the Department of Justice (DOJ).
In a 6-3 decision in Fischer v. U.S., the court struck down the charge of “obstruction of an official proceeding” used against hundreds of defendants. As a result, those convictions are now invalid.
The Supreme Court ruled that the DOJ had misapplied 18 U.S.C. § 1512(c)(2) – a law intended to prohibit obstruction of official proceedings by destroying or hiding documents, rather than persecute events like Jan 6.
Furthermore, in a blow to critics of the Supreme Court’s political alignment, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, a liberal appointed by President Joe Biden, sided with conservatives, while Donald Trump-appointee Justice Amy Coney Barrett voted against the ruling alongside her liberal colleagues.
Without evidence that the defendants had interfered with the delivery of documents to Congress, charges for the “obstruction of an official proceeding” are now quashed. Effectively, the allegations are legally downgraded from “insurrection” to the lesser crime of trespassing.
The ruling has major implications beyond those who have already been prosecuted by the federal government. Allegations of insurrection are now legally invalid, thus ruling out charges against other individuals in cases connected to Jan 6 including former president Donald Trump.
Many others, including a defendant, reacted with delight after the court threw out the “weaponized” DOJ’s convictions.
There were also considerations for those who had been jailed for their role in the day’s events.
