By declining review, the Supreme Court left those rulings in place. The decision carries significant consequences for more than 460 defendants charged under the same misdemeanor statute, making it the most common charge among the more than 1,450 January 6 prosecutions brought by the Department of Justice.
The Court’s most recent substantive ruling related to January 6 came in United States v. Fischer, where justices narrowed the scope of the federal obstruction statute used in some riot cases, increasing the burden of proof for prosecutors. Following that decision, U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell issued a similar ruling in United States v. DeCarlo, signaling potential limits on how broadly the obstruction charge can be applied going forward. Continue reading…
