CHICAGO (CBS) — The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Friday by a 6-3 majority in favor of a former Pennsylvania police officer accused of obstructing an official procedure during the January 6, 2021 Capitol riot.
The ruling in the case of Fischer v. USA limited the Justice Department’s use of a federal obstruction statute against dozens of people who stormed the building where Congress was meeting to count states’ electoral votes. It could impact hundreds of pending prosecutions — and end cases already under trial, including some of the dozens of Capitol riot-related cases involving people from Illinois.
Nearly 50 Illinois residents have been charged for their roles in the January 6 attack on the Capitol, with some still in custody nearly three and a half years later.
In total, more than 350 of the more than 1,300 people charged in the Capitol riots were specifically charged with obstructing official proceedings.
According to the Supreme Court, this charge was wrongly used by the prosecutors. The ruling means that at least some of the hundreds of defendants charged can have their cases reopened.
“They were accused of obstructing the election count—period,” said CBS 2 legal analyst Irv Miller. “The court says, ‘Look, it has to be more than just stopping the counting of the congressional elections. You have to do something besides, like destroy evidence to support the obstruction.'”
There are at least five cases specifically in Illinois where the obstruction charge was applied. Two men were convicted on the charge.
One of those men was Thomas Adams of Springfield, who was seen in a photo holding a Trump campaign flag in the Senate chamber. Adams was sentenced to 14 months for obstruction and other charges, and he has already served his sentence and has been released.
However, Miller said Adams can still appeal in light of the Supreme Court ruling.
“If I were his attorney, I would say, ‘Look, Mr. Adams, we need to go back to court and have that misdemeanor charge — the obstruction charge — dropped so you’re not a convicted felon,'” Miller said. “So even though he’s out, he should get some relief.”
Another suspect, Kevin Lyons from the Chicago area posted a photo from outside then-Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi’s office with the caption: “WHO’S HOUSE?!?!? OUR HOUSE!!” He was charged with obstruction, among other things, and was sentenced to 51 months in prison.
Lyons is currently behind bars.
“Because [obstruction] “The main conviction was – the others were misdemeanors – he’s probably going to file a motion to get out as quickly as possible,” Miller said.
Lyons’ attorney declined to comment. But Miller said Lyons likely won’t be the only one pushing for release. Miller said many of the Jan. 6 convicts will be motivated to contact their attorneys right away.
“The phones in the jail – there will be lines at those phones where lawyers can be contacted: ‘Hey, this has been thrown away! I’m being held illegally! Please get me out.'”
The Jan. 6 convicts will also likely get what they want if they are convicted of obstruction, Miller said.
“People could actually be released from prison tomorrow because they have been sentenced under the law and there are no other charges or sentences under other charges that apply. That means they are entitled to immediate release,” Miller said, “and I wouldn’t be surprised if the doors to prison open very quickly.”
The ruling will continue to have an impact after January 6.
“The immediate impact will be that the government will not prosecute cases like this unless there are grounds under the statute as interpreted by the Supreme Court,” Miller said. “It will bring many people who have been convicted back into the light of day.”
CBS 2 is still tracking cases here in Illinois that could be affected by this, many of which are still in legal proceedings.
Tara Molina
