Following a June Supreme Court ruling, the Biden Department of Justice has dropped nearly half of the pending obstruction charges against Jan. 6 defendants. The ruling, from Fischer v. United States, narrowed the scope of the obstruction statute the DOJ had used in prosecuting Jan. 6 protesters.
The statute, which carries up to 20 years in prison, requires proof that the defendant impaired or attempted to impair the availability or integrity of materials used in an official proceeding. As a result of the ruling, around 60 of the 126 defendants with pending obstruction charges had those charges dismissed as of Sept. 6.
Despite the dismissal of some charges, the DOJ is still moving forward with cases for 13 defendants and is evaluating its approach for the others. None of the defendants facing obstruction charges were charged solely under the relevant statute, meaning they will still face additional criminal charges.
The Supreme Court’s ruling also affects cases that had been adjudicated prior to the decision. The DOJ has stated that it does not oppose the dismissal of charges in about 40 of those cases, with further assessments ongoing.
Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, in her concurring opinion, suggested that charges could still be valid in cases where defendants disrupted materials used during the Jan. 6 proceedings, leaving room for continued prosecutions.
