There is going to be a rally in DC this weekend. That is why fencing is being put back up around the Capitol Building. There were more than 400 arrests coming from the Jan. 6 riot that has falsely been called an insurrection.
The event was not worse than Pearl Harbor or 9/11 and it sure was not as bad as the American Civil War. That’s the media narrative we get. Most people have moved the hell on with their lives. NO ONE thinks about it. CNN and MSNBC do not count. It was not our country’s best day. But it was just a protest turned riot. And nothing more.
In the aftermath of that day’s events, some of the prison sentences that prosecutors are hoping for are crazy. Now, a federal judge has issues about the constitutionality of these charges, according to The Hill:
“A federal judge this Wednesday questioned if the charge of obstruction of an official proceeding that was targeted against the 235 defendants is unconstitutionally vague.”
“During a long hearing on Wednesday for the conspiracy cases involving 18 people in the far-right extremist group Oath Keepers, Judge Amit Mehta for the D.C. asked about the thought process prosecutors used to issue a felony charge for “obstructing an official proceeding.”
“Essentially, what you reported was, ‘Trust us,’?” Mehta stated.”
“And that is a real issue when it comes to these criminal statutes, to say, ‘When we see it, we know it and we will choose when it as prosecutorial discretion.’?”
“Defense lawyers, including David Fischer, who represents co-defendant Thomas Caldwell, have argued that the charge was not correctly applied to this case, saying that the congressional certification of the Electoral College was not an “official proceeding.”
“The charges brought against the defendants carries a maximum sentence of 20 years behind bars.”
U.S. District Judge Rudolph Moss also had concerns about the charge in another hearing this past month, stressing that the government needs to present a clear differentiation between obstructing a proceeding and lesser charges that give maximum punishments of only six months in prison.
Author: Scott Dowdy