Supreme Court rules in favour of Jan 6 defendant, limits obstruction charges

The Supreme Court said on Friday (June 28), the Justice Department went too far by charging hundreds involved in the January 6 Capitol riot in US with obstructing Congress.

This could mean some of those cases need to be reviewed by prosecutors, leading to the reopening of the case.

The high court also ruled that the charge could be filed against the rioters if prosecutors are able to show they were trying not just to push their way into the building but rather to stop the arrival of certificates used to count electoral votes and certify the results of the election.

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The Supreme Court's ruling indicates that special counsel Jack Smith is likely to proceed with the same charge against former President Donald Trump.

Chief Justice John Roberts noted down the opinion for a 6-3 majority that included mostly conservatives and one liberal, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson. Justice Amy Coney Barrett filed a dissenting opinion that was joined by Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan.

Roberts hardly mentioned the attack on the US Capitol that precipitated the charges, focusing heavily on a detailed discussion of the text of the law.

Roberts noted that the breach “of the Capitol caused members of Congress to evacuate the chambers and delayed the certification process.”

Roberts argued that if Congress had intended for prosecutors to impose 20-year prison sentences for the type of conduct seen on January 6, 2021, lawmakers would have explicitly stated so.

“Nothing in the text or constitutional history suggests that (the law) is designed to impose up to 20 years’ imprisonment on essentially all defendants who commit obstruction of justice in any way and who might be subject to lesser penalties under more specific obstruction statutes,” Roberts wrote.

Special counsel Jack Smith has alleged that Trump's obstruction of the congressional proceeding is far more extensive than the actions of the rioters.

According to Smith, it involves a scheme that began on Election Day and included the use of bogus electoral certificates sent from states across the country.

Still, Trump’s legal team is likely to attempt to use Friday’s Supreme Court opinion to challenge parts of the case, if and when it returns to the trial-level judge.

The special counsel considered the possibility that the Supreme Court would narrow the obstruction charge and said in court filings submitted in Trump’s immunity case before the high court that his use of the charge would still survive under such a ruling.

However the Supreme Court’s judgment released on Friday did not address the fake electors scheme specifically.

Trump praises Court’s decision

Former President Donald Trump on Friday praised the Supreme Court’s decision to limit the power of prosecutors to pursue obstruction charges against those who rioted at the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.

The Friday’s ruling narrowed a rule that could have tacked years onto the sentences of hundreds of defendants.

“This happened a few hours ago, the Supreme Court ruled that Biden’s department of injustice has wrongly prosecuted hundreds of Americans for peacefully protesting on January 6,” Trump said at a campaign rally in Virginia.

“"Those people have been treated so badly, especially when you compare them with those who caused destruction and killed people in Portland, Seattle, and other places. They have been treated so badly,” he added.

(With inputs from agencies)