US Sol Gen #Prelogar, who argued on behalf of the #Biden admin: "the situation on the ground in #Idaho is showing the devastating consequences" of the conflict between #EMTALA & Idaho's #AbortionBan.
"One #hospital system in Idaho says that right now it's having to transfer #pregnant#women in #medical#crisis out of the state about once every other week. That's untenable & EMTALA does not countenance it."
#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.
US Solicitor General Elizabeth #Prelogar said the statute squarely answered a question that loomed after the violent siege of the Capitol on #Jan6: What was the #crime beyond a riot?
“In plain English, the fundamental wrong committed by many of the rioters, including petitioners, was the deliberate attempt to prevent Congress from certifying the results of the election. That is, they obstructed Congress’s work in that ofcl proceeding,” disrupting the peaceful transfer of power. #law#SCOTUS
#Prelogar said the #obstruction statute “directly reads onto this conduct,” & that the court was left w/a simple question of statutory construction: “Did people obstruct an official proceeding?”
“The answer is equally straightforward,” she said, yes, they did.
She argued that Fischer asked the court “to impose an atextual limit,” conflating 2 adjacent passages in the #law to attempt to limit the statute to acts of #evidence impairment. The 2 prongs aren’t so limited, she said.
“We have enforced it in a variety of prosecutions that don’t focus on #evidence tampering,” #Prelogar said.“Now, I can’t give you an example of enforcing it in a situation where people have violently stormed a bldg in order to prevent an ofcl proceeding, a specified one, from occurring w/all of the elements like intent to obstruct, knowledge of the proceeding, having the ‘corruptly’ mens rea. But that’s just because I’m not aware of that circumstance ever happening prior to #Jan6.” #law#SCOTUS
US Sol Gen #Prelogar said no, she didn’t think it was odd; it was in exactly the right place. Congress wrote the statute to broadly prohibit #obstruction offenses &the provision in question followed a passage that punishes the #crime of killing witnesses w/an even stiffer penalty—up to life in prison.
Prelogar also noted that fed sentencing guidelines for actual #Jan6 defendants who are first offenders &who plead guilty are far lower: 10-16 mos for #violent offenders, & 6-12 mos for #nonviolent.
On Wednesday, Justices Brett M. #Kavanaugh & Neil M. #Gorsuch, both nominees of #Trump, took turns peppering the #Biden admin w/skeptical questions as Solicitor General Elizabeth B. #Prelogar defended the Trump admin initiative — & the longstanding #Chevron#precedent.
Kavanaugh said Chevron has allowed #federal agencies to flip flop & impose new rules each time a new admin takes over, leaving judges w/little choice but defer to the changing interpretations of agency officials.
…In asking #SCOTUS to intervene in the matter, SG Elizabeth #Prelogar wrote in a filing that the order issued by an appeals court last month would impose “unprecedented limits” on the admin’s ability to “use the bully pulpit to address matters of #public concern” & call attn to potentially #harmful#online#content.