A federal appeals court found Friday that some Jan. 6 defendants’ sentences were wrongly lengthened when judges determined they interfered “with the administration of justice.”
A D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals three-judge panel sided Friday with Jan. 6 defendant Larry Brock, rejecting the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) argument that a sentencing enhancement designed for defendants who disrupt judicial proceedings should be applied to defendants who disrupted Congress’ certification of the 2020 presidential election. Brock was sentenced last year to two years in prison for obstructing an official proceeding.
“We must apply the Guideline as written, and Brock’s interference with one stage of the electoral college vote-counting process— while no doubt endangering our democratic processes and temporarily derailing Congress’s constitutional work — did not interfere with the “administration of justice,” Judge Patricia Millett, an Obama appointee, wrote in the opinion.
The panel also included judges Cornelia Pillard, an Obama appointee, and Judith Rogers, a Clinton appointee.
JUST IN: The D.C. Circuit has ruled that some Jan. 6 defendants had their sentences improperly lengthened by district judges’ decisions to label their crimes “interference with the administration of justice.” https://t.co/Yzz8QDhysW pic.twitter.com/9HCchVa8H4
— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) March 1, 2024
The panel found that the “administration of justice” applies to “judicial, quasi-judicial, and adjunct investigative proceedings, but does not extend to the unique congressional function of certifying electoral college votes.” The enhancement can increase sentences by over a year, according to Politico.
In April, the Supreme Court will hear a case challenging the scope of the obstruction statute, Section 1512(c)(2), used to charge hundreds of defendants, including Brock.
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A journalist named Steve Baker was just arrested. Everyone should go and read Steve Baker’s articles as they are true journalism from someone that was actually there and describes how the whole “riot” was a set up to go after Trump and MAGA Republicans and now he’s being arrested for “Parading, Demonstrating or Picketing in a Capitol building”. When did that become a crime? it used to be a citizen’s right and the left does it all the time with no consequences. Just like 1400 others that the FBI has hunted down all over the country and arrested and jailed in the biggest manhunt in U.S. history. All for a handful of lawbreakers who fought with police and broke windows; likely egged on by the hundreds of FBI and ANTIFA provocateurs in the crowd.
On the other hand, two ANTIFA thugs who firebombed a Police Car in NYC in the summer of 2020 got a sentence of 2 1/2 years; compared to 4 1/2 to 22 years years for various J6 defendants. Very few of the Antifa and BLM rioters were ever arrested and charged and those that were got immediately bailed out by an organization that Kamala Harris supported. In those riots dozens of U.S. cities burned, thousands of police officers were injured, and at least 24 people were killed, some for defending their property. And, oh yeah, all the rioters who set fires and threw frozen water bottles at police in D.C. after Trump’s inauguration had all charges against them dropped. But on Jan. 6, no fires were set, no weapons were ever found and the only two people killed on that day were two female protesters murdered by Capitol Police. All that the FBI has arrested have had their lives ruined, been put on the “no fly” list, and three have committed suicide. In 2022, a 69 year old Grandmother (with cancer) was sentenced to jail time for “walking around in an unauthorized area”. And they unconstitutionally locked up dozens in a D.C. gulag with no due process and no bail. It’s disgusting and shameful and every American should be outraged at this miscarriage of justice and weaponization of the FBI and the DOJ against citizens deemed to be the political opposition. It’s no different that the Stasi were in East Germany or the KGB in Russia. The DOJ and the FBI are clearly now little more than the enforcement arm of the Democratic Party.