January 6 Defendant Taking His Case To The Supreme Court, Case Could Help 'Hundreds Of Defendants'

A January 6th defendant is taking the fight to the Supreme Court over a challenge to one of the 11 charges that he has been indicted on, arguing that the charge, obstruction of an official proceeding, was an attempt from the government to “misuse and abuse the federal penal code” against January 6th defendants. 

The lawyers on behalf of Edward Jacob Lang, a January 6th participant, wrote the appeal to the Supreme Court claiming that “anyone who attends at a public demonstration gone awry” could be held with the obstruction charges Mr. Lang is facing. The attorneys added that the charge “is nothing less than the weaponization of the penal code to stifle dissent; it sets a terrifying precedent unworthy of this nation’s history.”

The case argues that the statute being used against Lang is being used far too broadly as the law only states that it goes against an individual who “corruptly alters, destroys, mutilates, or conceals a record, document” or “otherwise obstructs, influences, or impedes any official proceeding, or attempts to do so.”

"The petitioner submits that the Justice Department's overbroad application of the federal penal code to prosecute participants in the January 6, 2021 riot at the Capitol is the act of a behemoth unrecognized, unwarranted, and unwelcome in American life," the petition for a writ of certiorari reads.

Lang is being charged with obstruction of an official proceeding in relation to when Congress certifies the Electoral College votes and confirms the winning candidate as president. 

This isn’t the first time Lang has attempted to get the obstruction charge dismissed, previously a D.C. District Court granted the motion to dismiss the charge before an appeals court reversed the decision. There was also a motion to get a rehearing for the charge but that was denied by the appeals court. 

The attorney that is representing Mr. Lang, Norman Pattis, spoke with Newsweek and talked about how the Supreme Court deciding on Lang’s case could help “hundreds of defendants” in their cases. 

“The government misuse and abuse of the federal penal code in the [January 6] cases is shocking,” Pattis said on the matter. He also noted that they are expecting to hear in the fall whether or not the Supreme Court will look into the case. 

It is becoming increasingly clear that the Biden Department of Justice has been relentless in its pursuit of January 6th defendants and is willing to use, or misuse, the law to punish these individuals more than necessary. Whether or not Lang is able to win this legal case will be up to the Supreme Court and if he does, it will hopefully be able to assist various legal defenses.