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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.

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.

#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.

In his opinion striking down the govt’s use of an “#obstruction of Congress” charge against #Jan6 defendants, Chief *Justice* #JohnRoberts repeatedly mentioned the law has a 20-yr max penalty—“one of the more severe potential punishments” for govt interference #crime.

#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.”

In a 6-3 court split, Justice #KetanjiBrownJackson wrote a separate concurring opinion w/the majority, stating that in her view, *some* #Jan6 #insurrectionist prosecutions involving the #obstruction of an official proceeding statute could survive.

#lawlessness #Jan6 #SCOTUS #law #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.”

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.