#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.
#ElenaKagan kicked off her questions for Fischer’s atty, Green, by referring to #ClarenceThomas’s earlier comments. #KetanjiBrownJackson asked Green to respond more fully to a #AmyConeyBarrett question. The callbacks from the court’s liberals to its conservative members appear to be skepticism that the #obstruction statute can apply only to #evidence tampering.
The #law doesn’t say it applies to someone who “otherwise spoils evidence,” Kagan noted. “It says otherwise obstructs a proceeding.”