Can Jan. 6 Rioters Be Charged with Obstruction?

WSJ Opinion: Potomac Watch

The Wall Street Journal

News, Society & Culture

4.2 • 2.8K Ratings

🗓️ 17 April 2024

⏱️ 25 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

The Supreme Court hears an appeal from a former Pennsylvania cop, who says his conduct at the Capitol on Jan. 6 does not qualify as obstruction under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. Prosecutors have charged more than 300 people using that law, but are they stretching it too far? Plus, the Justices rule that a local $23,420 permitting fee is covered by the Fifth Amendment’s Takings Clause. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:15.6	Head to NetSweet.com.
0:17.6	Wall Street.
0:21.6	From the opinion pages of the Wall Street Journal, this is Potomac Watch.
0:27.0	The January 6th Riot at the U.S. Capitol reaches the Supreme Court as the justices debate whether
0:34.4	participants can be charged with obstructing an official proceeding
0:38.4	under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. Meanwhile the High Court cites the Fifth Amendment's takings clause as it rules in favor of a Californian who was charged
0:49.2	$23,000 in permitting fees.
0:53.0	Welcome, I'm Kyle Peterson with the Wall Street Journal.
0:56.0	We're joined today by my colleagues, columnists Kim Strassal and Alicia Finley.
1:01.4	The case at the Supreme Court on Tuesday was Fisher versus United States.
1:06.2	Joseph Fisher was a local police officer in Pennsylvania who was at the capital on January
1:12.1	6th. Some of his text messages include Take Democratic
1:16.1	Congress to the gallows, can't vote if they can't breathe LOL, the government
1:21.4	alleges that he crashed into a police line.
1:24.0	He was charged with several crimes, including
1:27.0	assaulting a federal officer.
1:29.2	But that is not what is at issue at the Supreme Court.
1:32.3	Prosecutors added a charge for obstructing
1:35.6	an official proceeding under a law called Sarbanes-Oxley that was passed in the
1:40.2	wake of Enron and other corporate scandals.
	...

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