Fischer v. United States

Fischer v. United States
Supreme Court of the United States
Argued April 16, 2024 Decided June 28, 2024
Full case name	Joseph W. Fischer v. United States
Docket no.	23-5572
Argument	Oral argument
Case history
Prior	Dismissed charge of obstruction, 1:21-cr-234-CJN (D.D.C. 2022); reversed, 64 F.4th 329 (D.C. Cir. 2023)
Questions 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?[1]
Holding
To prove a violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1512(c), the Government must establish that the defendant impaired the availability or integrity for use in an official proceeding of records, documents, objects, or other things used in an official proceeding, or attempted to do so.
Court membership
Chief Justice John Roberts Associate Justices Clarence Thomas · Samuel Alito Sonia Sotomayor · Elena Kagan Neil Gorsuch · Brett Kavanaugh Amy Coney Barrett · Ketanji Brown Jackson
Case opinions
Majority	Roberts, joined by Thomas, Alito, Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, Jackson
Concurrence	Jackson
Dissent	Barrett, joined by Sotomayor, Kagan
Laws applied
Sarbanes-Oxley Act

Fischer v. United States, 603 U.S. ___, was a United States Supreme Court case about the proper use of the felony charge of obstructing an official proceeding, established in the Sarbanes–Oxley Act, against participants in the January 6 United States Capitol attack. The Supreme Court ruled 6–3 in June of 2024 that the charge only applied when the defendant "impaired the availability or integrity" (attempted or successfully) of a physical document or object used in an official proceeding.