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Supreme Court Rules That Some Jan. 6 Defendants Were Improperly Charged

Supreme Court Rules That , Some Jan. 6 Defendants, Were Improperly Charged. NPR reports that the United States Supreme Court voted to limit which defendants accused of taking part in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot can be charged by federal prosecutors. The decision also casts doubt on two out of the four felony counts in former President Donald Trump's election subversion indictment. According to conservative Chief Justice John Roberts, the court ruled that the U.S. government must prove , “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.”. NPR reports that prosecutors relied on a key criminal statute to prosecute over 350 participants of the Capitol riot. The statute makes it a crime to alter or destroy official documents, or to otherwise obstruct or impede official proceedings. Roberts wrote that the statute was not meant to broaden the meaning of the law to make it a catchall provision. . The decision will impact other cases related to Jan. 6, many of which will have to be resentenced, retried or defendants will be released. . NYU law professor Ryan Goodman authored a study that found only 346 of the 1,417 people charged in connection with the Capitol riot were charged under the obstruction statute. The study also found that 71 people are still awaiting trial on the obstruction charge, but over half of them are also charged with another felony. NPR points out that if found guilty of other felony charges, the sentencing judge is still allowed to use the charge of obstruction to determine the length of their sentence.

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