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SCOTUS Arguments Don’t Bode Well For DOJ Prosecutors Pushing J6 Obstruction Charges
The Federalist ^ | 4/17/24 | LESLIE MCADOO GORDON

Posted on 04/17/2024 7:45:25 AM PDT by CFW

The Supreme Court heard arguments Tuesday morning in the case of Fischer v. United States, one of the many criminal cases arising out of the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol. Like defendants in a large subset of those cases, Joseph Fischer was charged, among other offenses, with obstruction of an official proceeding under 18 U.S.C. 1512(c)(2). Fischer’s case in the Supreme Court challenges whether the events of that day can be prosecuted using this obstruction statute.

Most of the justices seemed dubious, or at a minimum concerned, about the Department of Justice’s very broad interpretation of the statute allowing it to sweep in the kinds of conduct that Jan. 6 encompassed. If the court rules for Fischer, his case will automatically apply to all Jan. 6 cases that include a Section 1512 charge and radically change those cases, including the prosecution against former President Donald Trump in D.C. In virtually all instances, such a ruling would likely require that the Section 1512 charges be dismissed outright.

[snip]

The precise scope that the court gives to 1512(c)(2), however, could potentially leave open the possibility that a few defendants, including former President Trump, could still be charged under it using a narrower set of allegations. Such a case would then likely bring to the forefront some of the statute’s other issues, which were only touched upon briefly in Tuesday’s argument, such as the meaning of the “official proceeding” requirement.

Absent extraordinary circumstances, the justices should render their decision and opinion in the case by the end of the current court term, which traditionally closes June 30 of each calendar year.

(Excerpt) Read more at thefederalist.com ...


TOPICS: Breaking News; Constitution/Conservatism; Crime/Corruption; Editorial; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: doj; donaldtrump; fischer; jan6; josephfischer; scotus; section1512
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A good article here at The Federalist on the SCOTUS oral arguments yesterday on Fischer.
1 posted on 04/17/2024 7:45:25 AM PDT by CFW
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To: CFW
It was not their intention. It was a protest....no more. And a few became very rowdy...The problem is...you were stuck in a crowd and there was not going against the crowd.

Insurrection...absurd...

2 posted on 04/17/2024 7:48:48 AM PDT by Sacajaweau
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To: CFW

Sounds like they don’t like the Biden definition of free speech.


3 posted on 04/17/2024 7:50:29 AM PDT by bray (Science says a human life begins at conception.)
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To: CFW

Good.


4 posted on 04/17/2024 7:50:35 AM PDT by Fido969 (Ia)
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To: bray

At least one person on the Supreme Court thinks freedom of speech is a problem because it limits the government.


5 posted on 04/17/2024 7:54:20 AM PDT by ClearCase_guy (It's not "Quiet Quitting" -- it's "Going Galt".)
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To: CFW

I always found it interesting that the single largest armed populace in the world came to perform an insurrection without said arms.


6 posted on 04/17/2024 7:59:04 AM PDT by IYAS9YAS (There are two kinds of people: Those who can extrapolate from incomplete data.)
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To: CFW

The whole world is laughing at this “country’s justice system”. The biggest clown show on the planet. The Trump and JaySix fiascos are found to be hilarious by most foreigners. In fact, millions of foreigners are risking their lives wading in the Rio Grande to watch the American clown show. Water Buffalo Law and Banana Boat Carmen Miranda Hat “Judges” really cracks them up.


7 posted on 04/17/2024 8:14:24 AM PDT by FlingWingFlyer (Guns don't commit "gun violence." They don't even know what the hell "gun violence" is.)
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To: CFW

BTTT


8 posted on 04/17/2024 8:19:36 AM PDT by nopardons
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To: Sacajaweau

John Solomon was openly calling for revolution on video, but he got a slap on the wrist.


9 posted on 04/17/2024 8:20:36 AM PDT by Eleutheria5 (Every Goliath has his David. Child in need of a CGM system. https://gofund.me/6452dbf1. )
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To: IYAS9YAS

“I always found it interesting that the single largest armed populace in the world came to perform an insurrection without said arms.”

Exactly, made up scenario for political purposes. No attempt was made to overthrow the government.


10 posted on 04/17/2024 8:23:00 AM PDT by Pete Dovgan (Repeatedl)
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To: IYAS9YAS

“I always found it interesting that the single largest armed populace in the world came to perform an insurrection without said arms”.

That’s a Winner!


11 posted on 04/17/2024 8:28:51 AM PDT by laplata (They want each crisis to take the greatest toll possible.)
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To: CFW
Here's the take-away for me:

Only one justice — Justice Elena Kagan — seemed from her questions at least to be comfortable with the DOJ’s interpretation . . .
12 posted on 04/17/2024 8:29:49 AM PDT by EliRoom8
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To: Eleutheria5

Where is the evidence for that statement???


13 posted on 04/17/2024 8:31:58 AM PDT by EliRoom8
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To: EliRoom8

It was caught on video before he went into the Capitol posing as a reporter. He is “not listed as a member of BLM,” is the MSM’s sole defense of BLM. In other words, he’s with them in spirit and functioned as a provocateur.


14 posted on 04/17/2024 8:36:27 AM PDT by Eleutheria5 (Every Goliath has his David. Child in need of a CGM system. https://gofund.me/6452dbf1. )
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To: CFW

Equally interesting is the SCOTUS’ April 15th opinion denying cert in a case involving a lawsuit against the leader of a BLM riot in Louisiana that resulted in a serious injury to a police officer: https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/23pdf/23-373_8njq.pdf.

Sotomayor, writing for the Court, sent a message to the the courts below that based upon Counterman v. Colorado, 600
U. S. 66 (2023), “the First Amendment precludes punishment [for incitement], whether civil or criminal, unless the
speaker’s words were ‘intended’ (not just likely) to produce
imminent disorder.”

I also read this as a warning to the DOJ and the judge assigned to the Trump J6 trial, that the DOJ must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Trump actually intended to incite protesters to enter the Capital for the purpose of disrupting official proceedings concerning the 2020 election.

Thus, even if the SCOTUS agrees with the DOJ’s reading of 18 U.S.C. § 1512(c)(2), the charges may not survive a 1st Amendment Challenge.


15 posted on 04/17/2024 8:38:01 AM PDT by Labyrinthos
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To: laplata

BINGO! It was a protest against the rigged 2020 Biden installment. And an extremely peaceful one at that. Mostly feds that staged the capitol breach. The deep state were and remain unharmed.


16 posted on 04/17/2024 8:38:12 AM PDT by AbolishCSEU (Amount of "child" support paid is inversely proportionate to mother's actual parenting of children)
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To: Eleutheria5

John Sullivan not Solomon


17 posted on 04/17/2024 9:04:48 AM PDT by SoCar
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To: AbolishCSEU

compared to any of the BLM riots, J6 was actually a “mostly” peaceful protest.


18 posted on 04/17/2024 9:13:09 AM PDT by TexasFreeper2009
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To: EliRoom8

Yeah, Kagan wants to look at the statute and case through a political lens.

Here is another good article at The Federalist by Margot Cleveland.

“Oral Argument In J6 SCOTUS Case Lays Bare DOJ’s Partisan Lawfare”

https://thefederalist.com/2024/04/17/oral-argument-in-j6-scotus-case-lays-bare-dojs-partisan-lawfare/


19 posted on 04/17/2024 9:42:07 AM PDT by CFW
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To: Eleutheria5

A weaponless revolution...how quaint. It’s a word....thousands of Patriots have used it. It’s a call for change not violence.


20 posted on 04/17/2024 9:52:49 AM PDT by Sacajaweau
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