What’s Riding on a Jan. 6 Capitol Riot Case Before Supreme Court?

The Supreme Court will determine the fate of a major Jan. 6 Capitol riot-related case. The ruling could affect hundreds of people who were in the Capitol that day in 2021, and at the center of the case is the applicability of a federal statute. 

The Justice Department has been using a statute enacted in the early 2000s to prosecute those in the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. The statute makes it a crime to “obstruct or impede or influence an official proceeding or attempt to do so,” according to Seth Lucas, a senior research associate with the Edwin Meese III Center for Legal and Judicial Studies at The Heritage Foundation. (The Daily Signal is the news outlet of The Heritage Foundation.)

During oral arguments Tuesday, the justices appeared skeptical that the statute could be applied and used in the Jan. 6 cases the way it has been.

“It was clear that enough justices were skeptical of the government’s expansive reading of Section 1512(c) [of the statute in question] to make a reasonable guess that they’re probably going to read the statute a little more narrowly,” Lucas said. 

Lucas joins “The Daily Signal Podcast” to explain the details of the case and what the ruling will mean for those men and women who are facing charges for their actions on Jan. 6. 

Listen to the podcast below: