Attorney General Merrick Garland said a majority of Jan. 6 Capitol rioters will not be affected by the Supreme Court ruling limiting the obstruction charges brought against members of the pro-Trump.
In a 6-3 ruling along non-ideological lines, the justices ruled in favor of Joseph Fischer, a former police officer accused of storming the Capitol on who challenged his obstruction of an official proceeding charge. In the majority opinion Chief Justice John Roberts writes that the law, which was enacted in the Sarbanes-Oxley Act after the Enron accounting scandal, was only meant to apply to more limited circumstances involving forms of evidence tampering like document shredding, not to what was seen on Jan. 6, 2021 at the Capitol.
But, Robert also argued that the charge could be filed against the rioters if prosecutors are able to demonstrate they were attempting not just to push their way into the building but ended to stop the arrival of certificates used to count electoral votes and certify the results of the election.
In a statement Garland said he is “disappointed” by the ruling but it won’t have any impact on a majority of the cases related to Jan. 6.
“The vast majority of the more than 1,400 defendants charged for their illegal actions on January 6 will not be affected by this decision,” Garland said.
He continued: “There are no cases in which the Department charged a January 6 defendant only with the offense at issue in Fischer. For the cases affected by today’s decision, the Department will take appropriate steps to comply with the Court’s ruling. We will continue to use all available tools to hold accountable those criminally responsible for the January 6 attack on our democracy.”
Approximately 247 cases of the more than 1400 brought against b rioters will be affected by the SCOTUS ruling. About 52 people were convicted and sentenced with the obstruction charge as their only felony. Of those, 27 people are currently incarcerated.
