#SCOTUS is hearing a challenge today to a federal #law prosecutors used to charge >350 people who attacked the Capitol on #Jan6.
>100 have been convicted & sentenced under the statute for obstructing or impeding an ofcl proceeding—the joint session that convened to confirm Biden’s victory.
The case could impact #Trump’s federal trial in DC for trying to remain in power, 2 charges he faces are based on the same #obstruction statute.
The word ‘#otherwise’ in the #obstruction statute & why it matters The #law includes a penalty of up to 20 yrs in #prison for anyone who “corruptly — (1) 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; or (2) otherwise obstructs, influences, or impedes any official proceeding, or attempts to do so.”
Solicitor General Elizabeth B. Prelogar, defending the #DOJ, told #SCOTUS in filings that the second clause should be read as a “catchall” that ensures unanticipated methods of obstructing an official proceeding are prohibited. The word “#otherwise” means “in a different manner,” Prelogar wrote, & makes clear that Congress intended to prohibit obstruction broadly, beyond the destruction of records or documents listed in the first section of the #law.
For #Alito & #ClarenceThomas, past case is roadblock to siding with rioters A case from 2008 was brought up repeatedly during today’s oral argument, & it helps explain why the votes of the court’s conservatives are hard to predict.
In Begay v. United States, #SCOTUS ruled that the word “#otherwise” in the Armed Career #Criminal Act could not cover drunken driving convictions, because it was not similar enough to the other examples listed— “burglary, arson, or extortion” or “use of explosives.”
Chief Justice #JohnRoberts ruled in favor of that narrower reading.But Justices #Alito & #ClarenceThomas, the only other 2justices who are still on the court today, did not.In a dissent written by Alito,they said reading “#otherwise” to mean “limited to”equally purposeful, aggressive acts “does not follow the statutory language.” When asked what earlier case best supported his argument that #obstruction of Congress only covers evidence tampering,Green responded:“Begay is our best case for sure.”
Fascinating both for what it says about dev & what it says about statistics:
A gamedev realized Linux users were just 5.8% of their sales, but represented 38% of bug reports.
Then they looked at those numbers closer, and realized. Linux users were not experiencing more bugs. Almost none of the Linux-user bugs were Linux-related. Linux users were simply more likely to file bugs.
Their conclusion: A linux port pays for itself bc it nerdsnipes ppl into giving u free QA