OMFG
#SCOTUS says prosecutors improperly charged hundreds of #Jan6 #insurrectionists
Federal prosecutors improperly charged hundreds of #J6 defendants w/ #obstruction, the #SupremeCourt ruled on Fri, upending many cases against #insurgents who #invaded, #vandalized & #terrorized the Capitol to disrupt the certification of the 2020 presidential election.
#law #PartisanCourt #ActivistCourt #ExtremistCourt
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/06/28/supreme-court-obstruction-jan-6-trump/
After the #Jan6, 2021 attack on the Capitol, federal prosecutors charged >350 participants in #Trump’s #insurrectionist mob w/ #obstructing or impeding an official proceeding. The charge carries a 20-yr maximum penalty & is part of a #law enacted after the exposure of massive #fraud & shredding of documents during the collapse of the energy giant Enron.
#lawlessness #SCOTUS #PartisanCourt #ActivistCourt #ExtremistCourt #CourtReform
Writing for the majority, Chief *Justice* #JohnRoberts said the government must establish that a defendant “impaired the availability or integrity” of records, documents or other objects used in an official proceeding. The decision returns the case to the lower courts for additional proceedings.
Justices #AmyConeyBarrett, Sonia #Sotomayor & Elena #Kagan dissented.
#lawlessness #Jan6 #SCOTUS #GinniThomas #MarthaAnnAlito #PartisanCourt #ActivistCourt #ExtremistCourt #CourtReform
#SCOTUS’ ruling has the potential to affect the #convictions & #sentences of a small set of #insurrectionists — around 27 — who are serving time in #prison for only this #felony. It also could impact about 110 more who are awaiting #trial or sentencing, acc/to prosecutors. In addition, the ruling could affect #Trump’s stalled trial for illegally trying to remain in power after his 2020 defeat; 2 of the 4 charges he faces are based on the #obstruction statute, & he could move for dismissal.
ONLY ONE #J6 defendant received a punishment that severe— #ProudBoys ldr #EnriqueTarrio, who was ALSO convicted of a #SeditiousConspiracy to keep #Trump in power. He was sentenced to 22yrs in prison. The avg sentence for a rioter w/no criminal history & convicted of no felonies other than obstruction is ~2yrs.
#lawlessness #Jan6 #SCOTUS #GinniThomas #MarthaAnnAlito #PartisanCourt #ActivistCourt #ExtremistCourt #CorruptCourt #DarkMoney #CourtReform
In #dissent, Justice #AmyConeyBarrett noted that there is no mandatory minimum punishment. “Given the breadth of its terms, [the #law] naturally encompasses actions that range in severity,” she wrote. “Congress presumably #trusted District #Courts to impose sentences #commensurate with the defendant’s particular #conduct.”
#lawlessness #Jan6 #SCOTUS #GinniThomas #MarthaAnnAlito #PartisanCourt #ActivistCourt #ExtremistCourt #CorruptCourt #DarkMoney #CourtReform
It is not clear how much weight Jackson’s view would carry in the lower courts, but it is an important one. Jackson’s point was that while #SCOTUS limited the #statute to #crimes involving the impairment of #evidence, Congress’s #Jan6 certification of the #2020election itself “plainly used certain records, documents or objects — including, among others, those relating to the electoral votes themselves.”
#law #GinniThomas #MarthaAnnAlito #PartisanCourt #ActivistCourt #ExtremistCourt #CourtReform
Justice #KetanjiBrownJackson, concurring w/ the 6-3 majority, suggested that the #Jan6 #obstruction charge could still be brought against #Trump, specifically #crimes involving the actual or attempted “impairment … of the availability or integrity of things used during the #January6 proceeding.” Trump is charged w/ corruptly interfering w/ electoral vote certificates to be counted by VP #MikePence.
#law #SCOTUS #GinniThomas #MarthaAnnAlito #PartisanCourt #ActivistCourt #ExtremistCourt
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