In a landmark ruling, the Supreme Court has dismissed the most severe charges against over 300 individuals involved in the violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol three years ago, according to American Military News.
The court's conservative majority, in a 6-3 decision, determined that the rioters could not be prosecuted under a financial recordkeeping law that criminalizes the destruction of evidence and obstruction of an official proceeding.
The decision was not strictly divided along ideological lines, with Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson siding with the majority to limit the use of the obstruction law, while Justice Amy Coney Barrett dissented. Despite the ruling, the insurrectionists are not absolved of all charges.
The court's conservative justices argued that prosecutors overstepped their bounds by invoking the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, a law enacted in response to a corporate accounting scandal, which criminalizes the concealment or destruction of documents or crucial evidence. Prosecutors from the Justice Department had argued that the law's reference to obstructing an "official proceeding" could be broadly interpreted to punish those who stormed the Capitol to obstruct Congress during its joint session on January 6, 2021, to confirm President Biden's victory.
This ruling could potentially undermine the indictment of former President Trump for his alleged role in the January 6 mob attack. Two of the four charges against him are based on the anti-obstruction provision. Special counsel Jack Smith argued that these charges should remain valid as Trump and his allies allegedly conspired to send a false slate of electors to Congress.
The Supreme Court has sided with Trump and his supporters on three occasions this year. In February, it temporarily blocked prosecutors from trying the former president on charges that he conspired to overturn his defeat in the 2020 election. The justices agreed to rule on his claim of immunity, which is still pending. In March, the court ruled that state judges could not remove Trump from the ballot for "engaging in insurrection" in violation of the 14th Amendment.
The recent ruling dismisses the felony charges against many of Trump's supporters. Over 1,200 of the rioters were arrested in connection with their actions on January 6. Most were charged with assaulting police officers on duty or with disorderly and disruptive conduct. Some were also charged with carrying dangerous or deadly weapons.
The FBI conducted investigations into the backgrounds and motives of those who stormed the Capitol. Based on these investigations, approximately 330 of the rioters were also charged with seeking to obstruct an official proceeding. One such individual was Joseph Fischer, a Pennsylvania police officer. Prosecutors alleged that Fischer encouraged rioters to "charge" and "hold the line," and had a physical encounter with at least one law enforcement officer.
Prior to January 6, Fischer had sent text messages stating: If Trump dont get in we better get to war; Take democratic [C]ongress to the gallows, I might need you to post my bail. It might get violent. They should storm the capital and drag all the democrates into the street and have a mob trial. Fischer was arrested and charged with six counts of assault and disruption, as well as a seventh charge of obstruction, a felony charge that could result in several years of imprisonment.
A federal judge initially rejected the obstruction charge in Fischer's case, but the U.S. Court of Appeals reinstated it in a 2-1 decision. The Supreme Court agreed to hear his appeal in Fischer vs. U.S.
The Sarbanes-Oxley law, enacted by Congress in 2002 following the collapse of energy firm Enron in an accounting scandal that also took down the Arthur Andersen accounting firm, was designed to ensure that document shredding could be prosecuted as a crime.
In Fischer's case, U.S. Solicitor Gen. Elizabeth Prelogar argued that the prosecutions relied on a "straightforward application" of the law as written. She stated, A violent mob stormed the United States Capitol and disrupted the peaceful transition of power. In plain English, the fundamental wrong committed by many of the rioters, including [Fischer], was a deliberate attempt to stop the joint session of Congress from certifying the results of the election. That is, they obstructed Congresss work in that official proceeding.
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