The SCOTUS Just Bid Us “Happy Summer!” With a Slew of Shameful Decisions — Part II: January 6 Insurrection
Part two.
Before leaving on summer vacation, the almighty unelected black-robed monarchs on the United States Supreme Court (SCOTUS) handed down some pretty awful decisions.
As explained in part one, it overturned “the Chevron deference,” the 40-year-old decision that authorized federal agencies to appropriately operate within the scope of existing legislation if that legislation does not specifically prohibit rules from being enacted.
As Los Angeles Times columnist Jackie Calmes tweeted:
But it also just handed a huge win to the twice-impeached convicted felon and the mobs of insurrectionists that stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 to try to keep him in power.
The SCOTUS ruled 6–3 that the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) overreached when it presented federal charges against hundreds of supporters of the former president who attacked the U.S. Capitol. They also added federal prosecutors can bring charges if they can demonstrate those who sought to overthrow the government were not just attacking the Capitol but trying to physically prevent the counting of electoral votes, which, of course, they were.
The case deals with former Pennsylvania police officer Joseph Fischer, charged with entering the Capitol during the attacks for the purpose of obstructing an official proceeding, in violation of “The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002,” which “Imposes criminal liability on anyone who corruptly ‘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.”
As SCOTUSblog explains:
Friday’s ruling could affect charges against more than 300 other Jan. 6 defendants. The same law is also at the center of two of the four charges brought by Special Counsel Jack Smith against former President Donald Trump in Washington, D.C.
U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland stated:
The vast majority of the more than 1400 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.
The legal watchdog group “Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington” (CREW) tweeted:
With today’s Fischer decision, the Supreme Court majority helped many insurrectionists dodge accountability once again," the group wrote. "If attempting to block the certification of the 2020 election isn't obstructing an official proceeding in the Court’s eyes, then what is?
Indeed, what is?
For more shameful decisions SCOTUS handed down before leaving for vacation, click for “Part III” here.