The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday ruled that federal prosecutors overstepped their authority when they charged those who stormed the U.S. Capitol in 2021 with obstruction.
Chief Justice John Roberts, writing for the 6-3 majority, said that if Congress wanted prosecutors to be able to add 20-year prison sentences on those who rioted on Jan. 6, 2021, lawmakers would have said so.
“Nothing in the text or statutory 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.
On Jan. 6, 2021, supporters of then-President Donald Trump gathered outside the Capitol in protest. Some later forced their way into the building, breaking windows, assaulting police and delaying the certification of President Joe Biden’s 2020 election win.
“To prove a violation of [the federal statute], the Government must establish that the defendant impaired the availability or integrity for use in an official proceeding of records, documents, objects, or other things used in an official proceeding, or attempted to do so,” Roberts wrote.
He also wrote that the Justice Department’s game plan would put legal conduct at risk: “The Government’s theory would also criminalize a broad swath of prosaic conduct, exposing activists and lobbyist to decades in prison.”
The decision could force the U.S. Department of Justice to reopen some of the 350 cases it prosecuted.
Justice Amy Coney Barrett filed a dissent that Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan joined.
