Prosecutors overstepped in charging Jan. 6, 2021, rioters with obstruction for trying to prevent certification of the 2020 presidential election, the US Supreme Court said on Friday, throwing hundreds of cases into doubt, while another controversial ruling struck down 40 years of legal precedent on federal agencies’ ability to regulate critical issues.
The matter was brought to the court through an appeal by former police officer Joseph Fischer, a supporter of former US president Donald Trump who entered the Capitol with hundreds of others in 2021.
Writing for the majority, Chief Justice John Roberts said prosecutors’ interpretation of the law would “criminalize a broad swath of prosaic conduct, exposing activists and lobbyist[s] to decades in prison.”
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The government “must establish that the defendant impaired the availability or integrity for use in an official proceeding of records, documents, objects, or other things used in an official proceeding, or attempted to do so,” he wrote.
The case was decided 6-3, with Ketanji Brown Jackson joining with the court’s conservatives. Amy Coney Barrett, appointed by Trump, penned the dissent, which was joined by liberal judges Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan.
Fifty-two rioters have been convicted and sentenced only on obstruction charges, with 27 currently incarcerated, the US Department of Justice said in a statement.
About 249 people were charged with obstruction in addition to another felony or misdemeanor.
“The vast majority of the more than 1,400 defendants charged for their illegal actions on Jan. 6 will not be affected by this decision,” US Attorney General Merrick Garland said.
At a campaign rally in Virginia, Trump on Friday pointed to the ruling as he called for those jailed after the riot to be freed.
“Free the Jan. 6 hostages now. They should free them now for what they have gone through” Trump said, as the crowd cheered.
The ruling was a potential boost for Trump, who was hit with two obstruction-related charges as part of a four-count criminal indictment in a case brought last year by US Special Counsel Jack Smith. Trump has pleaded not guilty in the case.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court in a 6-3 vote, overruled a landmark 1984 ruling in Chevron v Natural Resources Defense Council, which said judges should defer to government experts in determining a “reasonable” interpretation of the law if the language is ambiguous.
That had proved to be “fundamentally misguided,” and defied the command of a statute asking courts to exercise their independent judgement on whether federal agencies have overreached, the majority opinion written by Roberts said.
In a dissent, Kagan criticized what she said was an unwarranted expansion of judicial power.
“In one fell swoop, the majority today gives itself exclusive power over every open issue — no matter how expertise-driven or policy-laden — involving the meaning of regulatory law,” she wrote. “As if it did not have enough on its plate, the majority turns itself into the country’s administrative czar.”
She said the ruling was the latest in a string of recent decisions by the court that would “cause a massive shock to the legal system.”
The 1984 ruling “has become part of the warp and woof of modern government, supporting regulatory efforts of all kinds — to name a few, keeping air and water clean, food and drugs safe, and financial markets honest.”
Additional reporting by Reuters
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