In a major decision late last month, the Supreme Court ruled that a federal statute had been misused to charge hundreds of January 6 defendants.

According to the Daily Caller, that ruling has left the Biden Justice Department scrambling for a way to salvage its cases. 

Supreme Court agrees that law was too broadly applied

At issue is Section 1512(c)(2), under which anyone who "obstructs, influences, or impedes any official proceeding" faces up to 20 years behind bars.

Enacted two decades ago following the Enron scandal, the office has been used to charge 355 individuals in connection with the January 6, 2021 riot on Capitol Hill.

Among them is former Pennsylvania police officer Joseph Fischer, who argued that his alleged actions were not of the sort that lawmakers intended to cover.

America's highest judicial body agreed with Fischer's assessment in a majority opinion authored by Chief Justice John Roberts.

Attorney: "The DOJ is not happy about the Fischer decision"

"To prove a violation of Section 1512(c)(2), the Government must establish that the defendant impaired the availability or integrity for use in an official proceeding of records, documents, objects, or as we earlier explained, other things used in the proceeding, or attempted to do so," Roberts declared.

"The judgment of the D. C. Circuit is therefore vacated, and the case is remanded for further proceedings consistent with this opinion," the chief justice went on to add.

David W. Fischer is a Maryland criminal defense attorney, and he wrote in a blog post last week that the Supreme Court has caused serious problems for federal prosecutors.

"The DOJ is not happy about the Fischer decision and is currently strategizing ways to circumvent the Supreme Court’s ruling," he stated.

Prosecutors ask for delays following decision

That fact is obvious from a filing submitted this past Thursday by District of Columbia United States Attorney Matthew Graves in the case of defendant Taylor Franklin Taranto.

"Based on the Supreme Court’s opinion and the forthcoming proceedings in the D.C. Circuit, the government anticipates that it will need additional time to evaluate its prosecution of charges under 18 U.S.C. § 1512(c)(2)," the filing read.

It looks like our efforts will be successful on the issue of immediate concern -- allowing Tara out of the house more than 8.5 hours a day in order to work on the family farm with Dale.

The is not the Govt response on the question of how they might try to preserve the conviction… https://t.co/aXhTxRir1c

— Shipwreckedcrew (@shipwreckedcrew) July 10, 2024

Meanwhile, criminal defense attorney William Shipley complained in a social media post that such delays "are very frustrating" for his client as well as other January 6 defendants.