Supreme Court Rules Prosecutors Overreached in Jan. 6 Cases – WSJ

WASHINGTON The Supreme Court ruled Friday that the Justice Department improperly charged some of the people who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, a decision that could affect hundreds of cases and potentially help former President Donald Trump.

Prosecutors have charged more than 1,400 Trump supporters who attacked the building while Congress met to certify President Biden s win, and turned to an Enron-era obstruction of justice statute to elevate some of those cases.

The Justice Department may have gone too far in doing so, the Supreme Court said, by taking a law prosecutors have mostly used against people they thought were tampering with evidence in criminal investigations and applying it to the riot.

Chief Justice John Roberts, writing a 6-3 decision that didn t fall neatly along ideological lines, said Congress likely didn t intend for the obstruction provision to serve as a catchall to address conduct beyond the type of wrongdoing that prompted the legislation the corruption or destruction of documents in an official proceeding.

To convict under the statute, prosecutors must prove that the defendant interfered with records, documents, objects or other things used in the proceeding, or attempted to do so, Roberts wrote.

The Supreme Court s decision will have immediate ripple effects, prompting some Jan. 6 defendants to seek resentencing.

The ruling s impact will be most pronounced for a subset of the rioters charged: the roughly 50 people who have been convicted and sentenced on that charge and no other felony. Of those, 27 people are currently incarcerated.

In a statement, Attorney General Merrick Garland said the department would take steps to comply with the ruling.

via www.wsj.com