Speaker 1 (00:00):
The Supreme Court issued a trio of key decisions as the end of its term approaches next week. The court overturned the 40 year old Chevron doctrine, which will now limit the power of federal agencies to enforce regulations. The court also raised the bar for obstruction charges for hundreds of January 6th rioters. It’s the first time they’ve weighed in on the attack on the Capitol. Justices also upheld a law which allows cities to ban homeless people from sleeping outside. Jan Crawford has more from outside the Supreme Court.
Jan Crawford (00:32):
The ruling means prosecutors may have overreached when they charged several hundred January 6th defendants, including former President Donald Trump, with obstruction of an official proceeding. The felony charge, part of a law passed by Congress to address accounting fraud, carries a sentence of up to 20 years in prison. In a six-three decision written by Chief Justice John Roberts, the court said the law requires prosecutors to show something more, that they impaired the availability or integrity of records and documents. Biden appointee, Ketanji Brown Jackson joined the conservative majority with Trump appointee, Amy Coney Barrett in dissent with the court’s other two liberals. Of the more than 1,400 people being prosecuted for the Capitol Riot, more than 350 faced an obstruction charge. 27 are still serving their sentences for it. For Trump, it is the basis for two of the four charges against him, but the decision does not rule out obstruction prosecutions for those defendants who interfered with evidence, for example, of certificates for state electors that Congress was counting.
Speaker 3 (01:38):
Look, today’s decision is not a get out of jail free card for Donald Trump. The charges against Trump, I think, will have to be reevaluated, but that’s not to say that the prosecution under this law can’t continue.
Jan Crawford (01:51):
Also, Friday, the court decided two other major cases, both in a six-three vote and another opinion by Roberts, the court overturned a 40 year old decision law and criticized by conservatives that gave federal administrative agencies power to regulate wide swaths of American life. And in a decision by justice Neil Gorsuch, the court ruled that a town in Oregon could enforce its ban on people sleeping in parks and public spaces, even if they are homeless.
(02:20)
Now, the justices will return to the bench on Monday to hand down the last decisions of the term, including that major case on whether former President Trump can even be prosecuted for his actions around January 6th. What, if any immunity does he have for CBS? Saturday morning Jan Crawford, the Supreme Court.