Swaths of Jan. 6 rioters could face resentencing or further proceedings this summer after the Supreme Court ruled that the Justice Department overreached in its sweeping prosecution of the Capitol attack.
The decision has left federal prosecutors scrambling to redefine their use of the newly neutered obstruction charge and maintain their long-held narrative that the riot was a threat to American democracy.
More than 350 rioters accused of interrupting Congress’s certification of the 2020 electoral vote were charged with obstruction of an official proceeding, about a quarter of those charged for their roles in the attack.
Since the Supreme Court issued its decision narrowing that charge, trial-level judges have started to reopen some cases tied to the 2021 Capitol attack. The Justice Department has urged them to slam the brakes.
The arguments put forth by federal prosecutors in the aftermath of the high court’s decision show the Justice Department has latched onto Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson’s concurring opinion, in which she signaled her belief it is possible for Joseph Fischer– the rioter who challenged the obstruction charge – and other defendants to still be prosecuted under it.
Jackson, the high court’s newest liberal justice, signed onto theconservative majority opinion and broke from the other two liberals, who were joined instead by conservative Justice Amy Coney Barrett in their dissent.
On Monday, federal prosecutors asked the court to push back sentencings for two rioters aligned with Oath Keepers, the extremist militia group headed by Stewart Rhodes, who was convicted of seditious conspiracy in connection with Jan. 6 in order to assess the Supreme Court’s decision and how to proceed.
Read more at Thehill.com
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