The Supreme Court Considers Hearing Jan. 6 Cases

The Supreme Court will consider hearing Jan. 6 cases that could affect the prosecution of former President Donald Trump.

The Justices, when they gather for a semiregular private conference on Friday, will consider whether to allow an oral argument review involving defendants Edward Lang, Joseph Fischer, and Garrett Miller, the Washington Examiner reported.

The high court was scheduled to discuss this last week, when the meeting was canceled after the death of retired Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, NBC News reported.

At least four votes are needed for the nine-justice court to hear a case.

The defendants are seeking to dismiss a charge alleging they obstructed an official proceeding at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, when demonstrators attacked the complex and forced the temporary interruption of the Electoral College vote certification.

The defendants are questioning if Section 1512 (c)(2) of the United States Code is the right statute under which to prosecute them.

Special counsel Jack Smith has charged Trump with the same offense in a four-count federal election interference case in Washington, D.C.

If the Supreme Court rejects the appeals, a lower court ruling that allowed the government to pursue the charges against the defendants would remain in place.

If it decides to hear the appeals, the Supreme Court would hear oral arguments and issue a ruling sometime during the court’s current nine-month term, which ends in June.

Trump’s lawyers could use the Supreme Court’s involvement as reason to seek a delay his election interference trial, scheduled to begin in March, NBC News reported.

Lang’s legal team argued that the dispute over the statute could affect “hundreds of cases as the Department of Justice continues to charge folks who participated in a protest turned violent on January 6, 2021,” according to a petition filed on July 11.

An attorney for Lang previously told the Examiner that the government took an overly broad approach when applying the statute.

“What does it mean to do something corruptly?” said attorney Norm Pattis, who added that allowing the charge to stand means “a lot of people are going to be afraid to turn up at public events for fear if somebody acts up, they’re all going to go to prison.”

The charge in question carries the stiffest penalty available to prosecutors so far in the Jan. 6 cases. Enrique Tarrio, leader of the Proud Boys, was sentenced to 22 years in prison. Stewart Rhodes, leader of the Oath Keepers, was sentenced to 18 years in May. Both were charged with violating the statute.