The Supreme Court’s recent decision to take a case challenging how the Justice Department prosecutes January 6 rioters has already put on hold several rioters’ sentencings and could affect hundreds more cases — including Donald Trump’s.
If the challenge is successful, the Supreme Court could potentially wipe away two of the four counts that special counsel Jack Smith has brought against the former president in his federal election interference case, and upend felony convictions for dozens of January 6 rioters.
Since the Supreme Court agreed last month to take the case, Fischer v. US, more than a dozen January 6 defendants have already asked judges to halt their upcoming sentencings and trials. While some judges have balked, others have agreed to delays for the rioters in a handful of cases.
Last week, one convicted rioter already in jail successfully won an early release set for May. That rioter, Alexander Sheppard, will serve only six months of his 19-month sentence. Depending on how the Supreme Court rules, he may be free after that or be forced to return to prison to finish out his sentence.
https://edition.cnn.com/2024/01/18/politics/supreme-court-upending-january-6-rioters-trump/index.html