Episode 7: Fischer v. U.S.

Joseph W. Fischer  v. United States, argued before the Supreme Court of the United States on April 16, 2024 From the Petition for a Writ of Certiorari: Petitioner Joseph W. Fischer . . . attended the Stop the Steal rally on January 6. Unlike many of the other attendees, Mr. Fischer did not subsequently march with the crowd to the Capitol. . . . But after learning of the swelling demonstration, Mr. Fischer and his companion drove back to Washington, D.C. . . . Mr. Fischer was not part of the mob that forced the electoral certification to stop; he arrived at the Capitol grounds well after Congress recessed.***[T]he government also charged [Mr. Fischer with] a violation of Section 1512(c) (Count 3), which prohibits evidence-impairment in connection with, among other things, “a proceeding before the Congress.”***The D.C. Circuit's interpretation of the anti-shredding provisions of the Corporate Fraud and Accountability Act of 2002, 18 U.S.C. § 1512(c)(2), presents an important question of federal law affecting hundreds of prosecutions arising from January 6, including the prosecution of former President Donald Trump. . . . The D.C. Circuit's opinion conflicts with this Court's precedent, diverges from the construction of Section 1512(c) by other courts of appeal, and results—as Judge Katsas observed—in an “implausibly broad” provision that is unconstitutional in many applications. Question Presented: Did the D.C. Circuit err in construing 18 U.S.C. § 1512(c) (“Witness, Victim, or Informant Tampering"), which prohibits obstruction of congressional inquiries and investigations, to include acts unrelated to investigations and evidence? Resources: Fischer v. U.S. docket U.S. v. Fischer opinion (Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit) Time Stamps: (00:00:00) Argument by Jeffrey T. Green, counsel of record for Petitioner(00:34:44) Argument by Elizabeth B. Prelogar, Solicitor General of the United States (00:48:40) Justice Alito line of questioning about "mostly peaceful" protest hypotheticals and the outer reaches of this statute, which leads to a discussion touching on free speech issues. (01:36:35) Rebuttal by Jeffrey T. Green The Institute for Free Speech promotes and defends the political speech rights to freely speak, assemble, publish, and petition the government guaranteed by the First Amendment. Learn more on our website: www.ifs.org