www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/06/28/supreme-court-obstruction-jan-6-trump/?utm_campaign=wp_main&utm_medium=social&utm_source=reddit.com
Supreme Court says prosecutors improperly charged hundreds of Jan. 6 rioters
SCOTUS Decision3 to people named Bush, 3 to someone named trump.
now 6 people decided by 2 families and 1 federalist society get to choose our rights because democrats are told they have be inspired to vote and republicans vote red no matter who for 50+ years.
”republicans vote red no matter who…”
Yep. And even to their own detriments, as we are witnessing. Only, they are actively sinking the ship for everyone aboard, not just their ignorant selves.
The frog asked the scorpion why it would doom them both by its actions. The scorpion said "it's in my nature"
This is because fascists favor fascists dontcha' know...
The ongoing criminal enterprise that is the GOP is wholly fascist through and through.
Those that support the same are the same.
How can we get Thomas and Alito off the SC?
Wait until they die with the full knowledge that it will take at least a generation to undo the damage this court has done.
Edit: That's assuming the damage CAN be undone.
As a corollary, make sure the president who is going to appoint their replacements and the legislative branch who will confirm is not a repugnant hellscape.
Vote. Every election. Vote.
After the debate last night? I’m terrified Trump will win. The CNN hosts let Biden tackle Trump’s lies all by himself. WTF? Where was the fact checking? Trump ran over Biden with his usual bullying bullshit and came across forceful. Which scares the shit outta me.
Now I’m looking around the world at other countries that had democracies slip into dictatorships and then back again.
The billionaires are responsible for our country not going softly into this dark night. We must rage rage against the dying of a light!
A generation if Biden wins. If Trump wins we’re looking at a potential century, if ever.
We have to clean House. And Senate. Republicans need to be voted out of Congress. If we could get a strong trifecta, we could take back the SC.
Literally the only hope is a Democratic House and Senate and President with a Senate that votes to eliminate the filibuster rules and then they pass legislation that both expands the court and gives that current President the authority to nominate immediately.
That's it.
Then, people need to immediately put cases in the courts that lead to overturning the damage this court has done and speed run them to SCOTUS.
Well, they are old so eventually they will die. Or we need a super majority in the Senate to impeach them. Or we need a super majority in Congress to establish and uphold actual ethical standards for the SCOTUS.
This is another reason why Trump cannot win. The next president will nominate the next three, possibly four, justices. Alito, Kagan, and Thomas are all now in their 70s. Roberts is 69. Trump would appoint four Aileen Cannons.
I REALLY wish that Congress would pass a law saying that article 3 of amendment 14 was self-exercising...
You don’t need to if you have the votes in Congress to expand the court from 9 to 13.
But getting those votes requires a LOT of our votes.
True.
Remember how CT’s wife played a role in Jan 6.
Actually, the liberals were split on this one. KJ joined the Conservative majority and ACB joined the two liberals in dissent. So the decision was not even remotely along party lines.
Ketanji Brown Jackson voted in support of the ruling…
Pretty sure she concurred simply so she could add her bit about how the Jan 6 insurrectionists still violated the new, more narrow ruling.
She also accepted big money gifts while on the court (Beyonce tickets). I wouldn't mind a reset of the whole shebang.
Beyoncé tix that she readily reported getting as she is supposed to do. Versus extravagant trips, tuition payments, yachts and who the hell knows what else because it is not reported.
Both sides are not the same.
They aren't, but other government officials can't accept gifts over $25 -- and these approached $4,000.
beyonce tickets are big money? clarence thomas has accepted millions of dollars, I fail to see how beyonce tickets are considered lavish or extravagant
While I see your point, this and Citizens United should not be a thing. There should be no gift giving to governmental officials
I am with you on that a hundred percent. citizens united is directly responsible for where we are today
They aren't insanely huge, but other government officials can't accept gifts over $25 -- and these approached $4,000.
They’re asking for term limits by these decisions.
This is awful - especially during an election cycle when Trump is downplaying January 6.
Interestingly, Steve Vladeck on X says this shouldn't impact the charges against Trump.
The documents case should be what puts him away. I think there will be more interesting discovery coming out soon. Whatever the Supremes decide will spur cases to resume, and facts to be revealed. Hopefully more subpoenas and indictments.
The documents case is stuck in the Judge Cannon black hole of bullshit. This ruling won’t affect that case at all. However, I agree that this is the case that would truly end him.
Yes it’s delayed, but with the Trump team pushing for all sorts of discovery the prosecution will be able to release additional discovery and make headlines. If it happens, so be it. We deserve more transparency on the situation. Let’s hope things proceed quicker w whatever the SC decides on Monday
It’s a federal case. Want to place odds on this supreme court permitting self-pardons?
The only way this guy is held accountable is if he loses in November. If that happens politicians see his bullshit as an anchor that cant win the Presidency and his support goes away as far as holding up his trial and what not. He cant pardon himself and the feds go after him and thats when Trump is done. The fact we actually dont know how November is going to go is the biggest WTF in American history for me.
The document case might be the one and only casw to be tried twice due to extordinary circumstances that literally wont be able to be repeated as far as im aware.
Its not right that a man can give away our country's national secrets and somehow because he appointed the judge, he can evade consequences for it.
The documents case is dead because the judge is a corrupt partisan hack.
The only way it dies is if Trump becomes president. (Edited to correct spellcheck’s autofill of “a felon”!!)
Little Miss federeralist society won't let that case go anywhere. Only if trump loses in November will we see justice in that case. Even then, it won't be for a while.
The wheels of justice are big and turn slowly.
Trump must lose. I don’t think anyone has changed their mind about that.
That case won't be brought to trial for years. Judge seems entirely fine allowing the defense as much time as they want.
Its bad optics for sure but it only affects less that 6% of Jan 6 cases .
And no convicted J6er is walking away with a clear criminal record because of this - they have all been convicted of something else.
I’m waiting to see if anyone gets a significant sentence reduction this way. Can’t wait to see them get photo ops with Trump.
Trumps SCOTUS is the gift that just keeps giving to him and his terrorist mob.
Because it's still obstruction if you were there actively trying to stop the counting of the electors. There is a great case that he WAS, so his charges can likely stay.
Well, they were quick to provide examples of what would constitute their narrow (and twisted) interpretation: creating fake documents to interfere with proceeding. Like you know, those fake electoral votes.
(c) Whoever corruptly—
(1) alters, destroys, mutilates, or conceals a record, document, or other object, or attempts to do so, with the intent to impair the object’s integrity or availability for use in an official proceeding; or
(2) otherwise obstructs, influences, or impedes any official proceeding, or attempts to do so,
shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 20 years, or both.
This ruling is saying that the "impair the object’s integrity or availability for use in an official proceeding" part at the end of (1) also applies to (2), even though the text of the law is very clearly (1) or (2).
This supreme court is so fucking stupid.
They're corrupt, not stupid.
To be fair, some of them are both.
lol, true.
If only we could consider a law to be an object, for the purposes of this law...
Whoever corruptly mutilates a law, with the intent to impair the law’s integrity or availability for use in an official proceeding (the prosecution of insurrectionists) shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 20 years, or both.
The problem is, who do you go to to prosecute this with SCOTUS? I think their office protects them from it.
What do the Originalists think the definition of 'or' is?
That depends entirely on what they want to have happen in the case they're deciding.
Gold in Spanish?
I guess the good news is that a mob can prevent the supreme court from ever conducting business again and there would be no chargeable crime.
SCOTUS: tldnr lol.
The DOJ should charge Ginny Thompson now.
Now when I say 'Hello Mrs. Thompson' and press down on your foot, you smile and nod. Hello Mrs. Thompson" "I think he's talking to you"
Peak Simpsons.
Federal prosecutors improperly charged hundreds of Jan. 6 defendants with obstruction, the Supreme Court ruled on Friday, upending many cases against rioters who disrupted the certification of the 2020 presidential election.
After the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol, federal prosecutors charged more than 350 participants in the pro-Trump mob with obstructing or impeding an official proceeding. The charge carries a 20-year maximum penalty and is part of a law enacted after the exposure of massive fraud and shredding of documents during the collapse of the energy giant Enron.
Writing for the majority, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. said the government must establish that a defendant “impaired the availability or integrity” of records, documents or other objects used in an official proceeding. The decision returns the case to the lower courts for additional proceedings.
The records were clearly unavailable during the time the Trump mob was in the Capitol. Another corrupt ruling.
Pathetic SCOTUS.
They're doing an amazing job from the rights point of view.
So you can invade to the point officers are shooting people dead and that does not mean the records are unavailable?
But the deaths were unrelated to the capitol riot /s
How could the rioters have known that the important documents were held in the Capitol building that their riot would shut down for hours!? You can't be guilty of a crime you didn't know you were committing!
/s because some probably believe this.
Even if they knew, it was antifa and the FBI!
Wait, so I could take a shit on the Speakers desk in the well, but so long as I don't get any on the docs - the proceeding is not disrupted?
Well...you can't access your documents when you have to flee the building in fear for your life. Does that count?
It does if the DOJ can show that the defendany knew there were ballots in the building and an intent to impair their counting.
The defendants all knew that there were certified electoral votes in the building and their explicit intent was to disrupt their counting.
QED
That shouldn’t be that hard to prove, right?
So give the violent mobs a win before an election juuuuuust to get tRUmp to have one less charge- democracy is buried with this court.
I agree, but not for the reasons that the SCOTUS is saying. I think they should've been charged with more serious offenses such as treason, sedition, etc.
SCOTUS is trying to let these traitorous buttheads out of jail, when they should be in there longer.
This supreme Court is full of terrible rulings, they have destroyed a venerable American institution and replaced it with partisan corruption.
Idk, they'd probably fit right in ruling against Dred Scott
At least 2 members of the Supreme Court should have recused themselves from this case. Both of them have wives who actively supported the insurrection.
THEY AREN'T RIOTERS, THEY ARE INSURRECTIONISTS AND TRAITORS
Can't wait for these justices to die their way off this court.
Replacements looking just as bad
It's terrible, but not as bad as it seems. There's an article on Just Security by Ryan Goodman, Mary McCord, and Andrew Weissmann out today that breaks this all down. Ultimately this will only affect approximately 28 people in total, and they can still be charged with other crimes. https://www.justsecurity.org/96493/supreme-court-obstruction-january-6th/
I really enjoy Mary McCord and Andrew Weissmann, they have a great podcast
Before you freak out too much, you should know that every convicted Jan 6'er will still have at least one other conviction.
No-one convicted of Jan 6 is walking away without a record as a result of this ruling.
Edit: And this only affects 6% of Jan 6 cases. 94% of the Capitol riot cases are clearly materially unaffected by the Supreme Court’s ruling in Fischer v. United States. source
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.
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.
I’m so sick of this country.
Why does the media keep referring to insurrectionists as rioters?
Also, fuck the Supreme Court for giving these knuckle dragging insurrectionists a break. What the fuck is happening right now?
The MAGA SCOTUS just keeps on helping Trump’s cause. The seditionists delayed the proceedings. So, the documents were interfered with. Another ridiculous ruling by this corrupt court. They need to go.
“I hate the Supreme Court”
Charge them all with sedition already. Goddamit
Oh fuck this court
Fuck the Supreme Court too.
This likely isn’t as good of news for the J6ers as we think, they will all have more legal fees to deal with this, new charges are possible, it’s a mess for sure, but not all good for them.
Motherfuckers! It's bad enough they're hands off the ringleader, but weather or not you beleive Shitzinpants was responsible, these people (at a goddamn minimum!) trespassed and vandalized the capitol!
This doesn't affect any charges for trespass and vandalism.
But they also obstructed and impeded an official proceeding, and this decision incorrectly says that they can't be charged for that.
This is the same corrupt court that is obstructing justice by refusing to rule on the immunity case that they never should have taken up in the first place.
It's also the same corrupt court that forced states to allow someone who is not eligible to hold the office of president, to be on the ballot anyway. That's going to cause a lot of confusion, if he ends up winning the election, but is still ineligible to hold the office.
I can’t lie, I’m feeling immensely defeated today. Fully expect a favorable ruling for trump in the immunity case at this point, and there isn’t enough whiskey in the world to drown out my frustrating for the hypocrisy of the present supreme court pretending to be originalists.
That is not what the ruling says. It says the law is more narrow, but very likely still applies to jan 6ers. The ruling applies a new, more stringent standard for evaluating whether the law was broken, but that standard - judge brown-jackson wrote in her concurrence - still applies to jan 6ers.
Our Supreme Court...bought and sold by people who hate democracy.
"There are 52 cases in which a defendant was convicted and sentenced on charges where the obstruction count was the sole felony, and of those, 27 are currently incarcerated, according to the Justice Department."
I've had burritos more supreme than this court.
Stack the court and end lifetime appointments. These are activist judges, period.
SCOTUS is definitely going along with the traitor trump 2025 plan
You're goddam right they did - all those criminals should have been charged with treason.
So drop all the previous charges and let's pull them through the courts again using the proper charge - the attempted overthrow of the United States government at the behest of a foreign power... i.e. treason.
This is outrageous. Of all the shit we've had to put up with. This is too far. We need to fucking riot.
Let’s ask a hypothetical question- is it now ok for one of Trump’s patriotic supporters who visited the Capitol on Jan 6 to go to a Supreme Court justice house and do the same thing they did to the Capitol and then get away with it ?
So as long as they didn’t destroy or alter paperwork there wasn’t obstruction?
Supreme Court - I don’t think you understand what the word obstruction means. By their logic I could leave a bunch of crap in the road but that wouldn’t count as obstructing traffic
I thought that attempted bank robbery is the same as a consummated bank robbery? Would not the charge also automatically concurrently be ATTEMPTED obstruction of official proceedings? Unless the coup succeeds, everyone is innocent? They are only guilty if they succeed?
What the hell is going on in the courts in this country? They are openly, brazenly inviting fascism.
EVERY Republican makes me want to vomit all over the floor. So UnAmerican, it makes me sick. Vote Blue.
Really quick - whether you hate this decision or not just know that it was not decided by party lines. Liberal Justice Ketanji Brown joined the majority on this decision and Trump Appointee Amy Coney Barrett joined the minority. In most of the recent cases other than Roe v Wade overturn and the Homeless decision, the court has surprisingly been split along non-party/ideological lines. Seems there's room for a lot more nuance and independence that people sometimes give the SC credit for. The majority of cases are usually decided with super majorities or unanimous decisions, and the ones that aren't are not always split along party lines. It's only the really big controversial stuff that you might see that split (since that's usually what presidents who appoint them might focus on).
And AfterBoomers are bitching about Biden being old.
SC needs to go straight to jail.
If they were there, they were participants!
Surprise Surprise
Fine, now charge them with the far more serious crimes they all should have been charged with to begin with.
They're full of sht the bunch of nippledick licking shibags
I hope they enjoy their awesome vacations or whatever bribe they got for this decision
They could have been delivering ballots! Absolutely…
What the actual fuck??!
Really just some braindead shit.
Of course they did
F the SC, time for Biden to stack the court
America is over. The Christians and other fascists have won.
Not quite.
The Courts have failed us. So, we must vote. That’s what will save our country from these fascists.
Even if Biden wins in November, Americans are stupid. An inevitable recession eventually occurs due to corporate greed or climate change and the GOP is put back in power. The powers that have been unleashed here will undo us. It is only a matter of time. It's a good time to be old. A horrible time to be dumb enough to have children.
So you sweep away my comment by saying “America is over” because some future event is inevitable? Nothing in life is inevitable (except death and taxes) and your statement only invites acceptance of that becoming true.
Sorry, but I don't see any way to overcome the double whammy of fascists and hard-core Catholics having a multiple-judge majority on the SCOTUS.
Well Gee! You don't say...
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Fuck the Conservatives on the Supreme Court! Corrupt af.