‘You may be biting off more than you can chew’: Supreme Court seems dubious in debate over obstruction statute with potential to unwind hundreds of Jan. 6 convictions

FILE - President Donald Trump speaks during a rally protesting the electoral college certification of Joe Biden as President in Washington, Jan. 6, 2021. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File). Insets clockwise from top left: Jan. 6 rioter Kevin Seefried carries a Confederate flag through the U.S. Capitol; Jan. 6 rioter Joseph Fischer inside the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021; Oath Keepers in a stack formation on Capitol stairs on Jan. 6, 2021. Photos provided by U.S. Justice Department.

FILE – President Donald Trump speaks during a rally protesting the Electoral College certification of Joe Biden as President in Washington, Jan. 6, 2021. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File). Insets clockwise from top left: Jan. 6 rioter Kevin Seefried carries a Confederate flag through the U.S. Capitol; Jan. 6 rioter Joseph Fischer inside the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021; Oath Keepers in a stack formation on Capitol stairs on Jan. 6, 2021 (photos provided by U.S. Justice Department).

In a much-anticipated decision, the U.S. Supreme Court in a 6-3 decision on Friday narrowed a key statute used to charge Jan. 6 defendants for obstructing the official duties of lawmakers certifying the election on Jan. 6, 2021, and found it does not apply as charged but instead, the statute only bars obstruction of an official proceeding by evidence tampering.

Chief Justice John Roberts delivered the opinion Friday with Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Brett Kavanaugh and Ketanji Brown Jackson joining him. Jackson also filed a concurring opinion. Justices Amy Coney Barrett, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan dissented.

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