Amy Coney Barrett Rips Supreme Courtâs Absurd January 6 Ruling
Justice Amy Coney Barrett broke ranks with the conservative majority on the Supreme Court Friday, leveraging strong words against her colleagues for their interpretation of Fischer v. United States. After the court ruled 6â3 that the Justice Department overstepped in charging hundreds of January 6 rioters with obstruction, the Trump-appointed conservative judge used her dissenting opinion to tear apart the decision that would narrow all future obstruction charges, including potentially Trumpâs.
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Noting that the court didnât dispute the details of the caseânamely that Congressâs joint session was an âofficial proceeding,â that the rioters delayed the proceeding, and that Joseph Fischerâs trespassing and brush-up with law enforcement during the ordeal was âpart of a successful effort to forcibly halt the certification of the election resultsââBarrett questioned why the court would question the âopen and shutâ obstruction case.
âBecause it simply cannot believe that Congress meant what it said,â she wrote, continuing to explain that the legal code for charging Fischer was a âvery broad provisionâ and that, âadmittedly, events like January 6th were not its target. (Who could blame Congress for that failure of imagination?)
âBut statutes often go further than the problem that inspired them, and under the rules of statutory interpretation, we stick to the text anyway,â Barrett wrote. âThe Court, abandoning that approach, does textual backflips to find some wayâany wayâto narrow the reach of subsection (c)(2),â referring to part of the statute used to charge Fischer for his actions on January 6.
In doing so, the court âfailed to respect the prerogatives of the political branchesâ to punish illegal conduct that occurred on January 6, according to Barrett.