Federal prosecutors have started dismissing obstruction charges from some Capitol riot defendants' cases under the U.S. Supreme Court's decision limiting the Justice Department's primary charge in the January 6, 2021, prosecutions, Courthouse News reports. In a 6-3 decision in June, the Supreme Court held that the federal government had wrongfully levied a felony charge of obstruction of an official proceeding against Jan. 6 defendants, finding that the statute applies only to conduct like document destruction. The Justice Department has said that the high court’s decision would affect only a small number of defendants whose only felony charge was obstruction of an official proceeding. However, that small group includes certain members of the extremist organizations the Oath Keepers and the Proud Boys, whose leaders were charged and convicted of seditious conspiracy.
DOJ says that 1,178 of the 1,472 defendants charged in connection with the Capitol riot were not charged with obstruction of an official proceeding. Of the remaining 259, 133 have already been sentenced — 76 of those were convicted on other felonies and 40 have already been released from prison. There are only 17 defendants of that 133 who were sentenced on just felony obstruction and remain incarcerated. The other 126 defendants are on pretrial release while awaiting sentencing or trials. The Justice Department emphasized that there are no cases where a defendant was only charged with obstruction of an official proceeding and every defendant faces some other felony or misdemeanor charges. In total, just 2% of Capitol riot defendants could potentially benefit from the Supreme Court’s decision.