Supreme Court sides with Jan. 6 defendant against obstruction charge

Rioters loyal to President Donald Trump rally at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021. **FILE**on Friday erased the conviction of a Jan. 6 protester whom prosecutors had charged with obstructing the Electoral College count, saying the government was stretching too far a law written to criminalize people who hindered an investigation.

He said to read the law otherwise would mean all sorts of common activities by lobbyists and activists who try to influence the government. “There is no getting around it: Section 1512 is an expansive statute. Yet Congress, not this court, weighs the ’pros and cons of whether a statute should sweep broadly or narrowly,’” Justice Barrett wrote.

He said the department would “take appropriate steps” in cases where the obstruction charge was used. Federal authorities charged Fischer with seven counts related to the Jan. 6 protest, but the one before the justices was Title 18, Section 1512, which reads: A U.S. district judge in the District of Columbia sided with Fischer and dismissed the charge, ruling that the law didn’t apply to the events of Jan. 6. The

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