politics
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Friday made it tougher to charge those accused within the Capitol riots with obstruction of justice, a charge also brought against former President Donald Trump.
The judges ruled that the obstruction of an official proceeding charge, brought in 2002 in response to the financial scandal that brought down Enron, must include proof that the defendants attempted to tamper with or destroy documents. Only a few of the individuals who violently attacked the Capitol on January 6, 2021, fall into this category.
The decision could function a bolster for Trump and his Republican allies to assert that the Justice Department treated defendants unfairly in reference to the Capitol riots.
It is unclear what impact the court's decision may have on the proceedings against Trump in Washington, but special counsel Jack Smith has stated that the costs against the previous president is not going to be affected.
The Supreme Court has remanded the case of former Pennsylvania police officer Joseph Fischer to a lower court to find out whether Fischer will be charged with obstruction of justice. Fischer was charged with obstructing Congress's certification of Democrat Joe Biden's victory over Trump within the 2020 presidential election.
Fischer is certainly one of about 350 individuals who have been charged with obstruction of justice. Some have pleaded guilty or been convicted of less serious offenses.
About 170 defendants in reference to the Capitol rebellion have been convicted of obstructing or conspiring to obstruct the joint session of Congress on January 6, including the leaders of two far-right extremist groups, the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers. Sentencing for various defendants has been postponed until the judges resolve the case.
Some rioters even sought early release from prison while the appeals process was pending, fearing they’d be sent to prison longer than scheduled if the Supreme Court rules against the Justice Department. They include Kevin Seefried, a Delaware man who threatened a black police officer with a pole tied to a Confederate flag as he stormed the Capitol. Seefried was sentenced to a few years in prison last 12 months, but a judge recently ordered him released after serving a 12 months of his sentence while he awaits the Supreme Court's ruling.
Most of the lower court judges who spoke out let the costs stand. Among them, Trump-appointed U.S. District Judge Dabney Friedrich wrote that “laws often go beyond the fundamental evil that underlies them.”
But U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols, also appointed by Trump, dismissed the costs against Fischer and two other defendants, saying prosecutors had gone too far. A divided panel of the federal appeals court in Washington reinstated the costs before the Supreme Court agreed to take up the case.
More than 1,400 people have been charged with federal crimes related to the Capitol riots. About 1,000 of them have pleaded guilty or have been convicted by a jury or judge after a trial.
The U.S. Attorney's Office in Washington, which handled the Jan. 6 indictments, said nobody convicted or charged with obstruction of justice can be completely exonerated consequently of the decision. Each defendant also faces additional charges of a felony or misdemeanor or each, prosecutors said.
For about 50 of those convicted, obstruction was the one charge, prosecutors said. Of those, about two dozen who’re still serving their sentences are most probably to be affected by the ruling.
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