The Supreme Court’s June ruling narrowing use of an obstruction charge for Jan. 6 defendants is leading to misdemeanor plea deals for some Capitol riot defendants.
Federal prosecutors have begun moving to drop charges accusing Jan. 6 defendants of obstructing Congress’s confirmation of the 2020 presidential election results, offering new plea deals after the Supreme Court last month restricted the government’s use of that count, according to court filings.
Let’s be perfectly clear here: prosecutors are offering new plea deals so that they can get any conviction on these cases, because SCOTUS threw a wrench in the works. If the charges just stood as they were, there’s a fair chance that the defendants would be acquitted based on the SCOTUS ruling. And the charges aren’t just being “dropped,” as the headline states; they’re being offered new plea deals.
My own first reaction was “great, those assholes letting people off,” thinking about the prosecutors. Then I actually read the article for fifteen seconds. The prosecutors aren’t the assholes. SCOTUS is the assholes.
Let’s be perfectly clear here: prosecutors are offering new plea deals so that they can get any conviction on these cases, because SCOTUS threw a wrench in the works. If the charges just stood as they were, there’s a fair chance that the defendants would be acquitted based on the SCOTUS ruling. And the charges aren’t just being “dropped,” as the headline states; they’re being offered new plea deals.
My own first reaction was “great, those assholes letting people off,” thinking about the prosecutors. Then I actually read the article for fifteen seconds. The prosecutors aren’t the assholes. SCOTUS is the assholes.
I think we all understood SCOTUS were the assholes based on the headline.
If I had that reaction, other people did, too. I felt it was important to clarify.
Or based on just existing