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☆ Opinion | Jan. 6 Rioters Should Not Catch a Break From the Supreme Court
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-23 | by ( Randall D. Eliason | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Imagine that during a Supreme Court argument, protesters angry about the case storm the court building. Has the court proceeding been obstructed or impeded? Prosecutors charge that by participating in the Capitol riot, Mr. Fischer corruptly obstructed and impeded the joint congressional proceeding to certify the election, in violation of 1512(c)(2). More than 300 other Jan. 6 rioters have faced the same charge. Because Mr. Fischer wasn’t charged with impairing the availability or integrity of any physical evidence, Judge Nichols dismissed the charge.

Persons: Fischer, Donald Trump, Joseph Fischer, Fischer corruptly, Mr, Trump, Carl Nichols, Fischer wasn’t, Judge Nichols Organizations: Capitol, Prosecutors Locations: United States, Washington

The Supreme Court's conservative majority appeared skeptical of a charge federal prosecutors have lodged against hundreds of people who attacked the US Capitol on January 6, 2021. While the court’s three-justice liberal wing signaled support for the charge, the conservative majority raised a series of skeptical questions about its potential scope and whether it would criminalize other conduct, such as protests. The charge can tack up to 20 years onto a prison sentence. Joseph Fischer, a former Pennsylvania police officer and January 6 defendant who brought the case to the Supreme Court, argued that the law at issue, created in response to the Enron scandal in 2001, was intended to stop witness tampering, not riots. During more than an hour and a half of arguments, Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Brett Kavanaugh, Neil Gorsuch and Samuel Alito were among those who appeared to take issue with the government’s reading of the law.

Persons: ”, Joseph Fischer, John Roberts, Brett Kavanaugh, Neil Gorsuch, Samuel Alito Organizations: Capitol, Enron Locations: Pennsylvania

☆ Justices question obstruction charge in Jan 6 rioter prosecution, which could affect Trump's case
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-16 | by ( Lawrence Hurley | Ryan J. Reilly | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Some justices expressed similar sentiments during Tuesday's arguments, asking whether the statute in question could be used to prosecute peaceful protesters, including people who at times have disrupted Supreme Court proceedings. Trump himself faces charges of violating the same law, as well as conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding. Fischer faces seven criminal charges, only one of which is the focus of the Supreme Court case. He also faces charges of assaulting a police officer and entering a restricted building, among others. Conservative Justice Brett Kavanaugh questioned why the Justice Department needed to charge Fischer using the obstruction statute, noting that he faces the six other charges.

Persons: Micki Witthoeft, Ashli Babbitt, Fischer, WASHINGTON, Donald Trump, Joseph Fischer, Joe Biden's, Trump, Neil Gorsuch, Clarence Thomas, Brett Kavanaugh, Ginni Thomas, Trump's Organizations: U.S ., Appeals, District of Columbia, WASHINGTON —, U.S . Capitol, State, Trump, Conservative, Justice Department, Sarbanes, Oxley, Capitol, Prosecutors Locations: Washington ,, U.S, Washington, New York, Trump's

☆ January 6 rioters want the Supreme Court to let them off the hook from obstruction charge
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-16 | by ( John Fritze | Hannah Rabinowitz | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

Now, the Supreme Court will consider whether the prosecutors’ interpretation of the law can be used against the rioters and whether the convictions already secured will stick. The charge at issue in the Supreme Court case stems from a law Congress enacted in response to a series of corporate accounting scandals, including the 2001 Enron debacle. The case before the Supreme Court involves only that last charge. All three defendants appealed to the Supreme Court, but the justices granted only Fischer’s case. In a filing last week at the Supreme Court in Trump’s immunity case, Smith argued the obstruction charge should stick against Trump even if Fischer wins.

Persons: Donald Trump, Jack Smith, Trump, ”, Claire Finkelstein, ” Trump, Fischer, Stormy Daniels, “, Joe Biden’s, Critics, Joseph Fischer, texted, ” Fischer, Nicholas Smith, Smith, Randall Eliason, Clarence Thomas, Ginni Thomas, Thomas, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Samuel Alito, Eliason, Antonin Scalia, ” Eliason Organizations: CNN, Capitol, ” Prosecutors, Trump, Justice Department, University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School, Enron, Prosecutors, Appeals, DC Circuit, George Washington University, White Locations: Pennsylvania, New York, ”, Colorado

The high court’s ruling could also affect the federal election subversion criminal case pending against former President Donald Trump, who was also charged with the obstruction crime. The law, Justice Elena Kagan said, could have been written by Congress to limit its prohibition to evidence tampering. Unless the court rules broadly in a way that undermines the charge entirely, the case against Trump may still stick even if Fischer wins his case. The Fischer case has prompted some liberal critics of the court to demand that Thomas recuse himself. “There have been many violent protests that have interfered with proceedings,” Thomas asked Prelogar, pressing on a theme he returned to repeatedly during the arguments.

Persons: Critics, ”, Donald Trump, Joseph Fischer, Trump, “, Fischer, Brett Kavanaugh, Elizabeth Prelogar, John Roberts, ’ ” Roberts, it’s, Prelogar, Kavanaugh, ‘, ” Prelogar, Neil Gorsuch, Jamaal Bowman, Bowman, Samuel Alito, ” Alito, rioter, Elena Kagan, ” Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor, Ketanji Brown Jackson, Jeffrey Green, Jackson, Jack Smith, Department’s, Smith, Clarence Thomas, Thomas, That’s, Thomas ’, Ginni Thomas, ” Thomas, “ I’m Organizations: CNN, Justice Department, Justice, Capitol, Court, Department, Riot, ”, New York Democrat, House, Hamas, Trump Locations: Pennsylvania, Gaza, Virginia, DC, Colorado, ”

Fischer is also the author of Kentucky’s 2019 “trigger” law, which went into effect when the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June and makes most abortions illegal in the state. This year, with 84 seats up for election in state supreme court races nationwide – the highest number in recent years, according to election tracking organization Ballotpedia – these down-ballot races are taking on a heightened significance and scrutiny. Four out of seven of Kentucky’s state Supreme Court seats are up on Nov. 8, with three of those races contested. But if the amendment loses, a legal challenge from the American Civil Liberties Union and Planned Parenthood attempting to overturn the ban would move forward before the state Supreme Court. A ‘new frontier’In Montana, Republicans have accused the seven-member state Supreme Court of holding a “liberal bias,” particularly while Democratic governors filled court vacancies in recent years.

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