Fischer v. United States
The Supreme Court ruled 6–3 in June 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.
144 S. Ct. 2176 · No. 23-5572 · 2023 term · Roberts Court
Decided Jun 28, 2024 · argued Apr 16, 2024
Criminal procedure · Statutory construction of criminal laws: obstruction of justice
Majority opinion: John Roberts
The voteMajorityDissent
6–36 in the majority, 3 in dissent
3 dissents (6–3)
Vacated and remanded. Fischer won.
What this ruling means
Vacated and remanded: the Supreme Court set aside the decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit, wiping it out without necessarily saying the result was wrong, and sent the case back for that court to decide again under the right legal standard.
Fischer was the petitioner, the side that asked the Supreme Court to review the case. “Won” means the Court gave that side the result it asked for.
From the Supreme Court Database. A justice who agreed with the result but not the reasoning counts in the majority.
Summary
The opening of the case’s Wikipedia article: what the case was about and what the Court held.
Fischer v. United States, 603 U.S. 480 (2024), 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 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.
Data notes
The text is Wikipedia’s (CC BY-SA 4.0), matched to the case by its citation, docket number or name and year, and is not checked against the opinion. The site keeps the article’s opening section, ending on its last full sentence. The one-sentence summary under the title is the Decisions list’s: Wikipedia’s own ruling sentence, or, tagged “AI-written”, one Claude wrote from this opening.
How the justices voted
Each justice who took part, placed by their Martin–Quinn ideology score for the 2023 term. Filled: the 6 in the majority. Hollow: the 3 in dissent. Colour is the party of the president who appointed them.
Majority(6)
John RobertsWrote the majority opinion
Ketanji JacksonWrote a concurrence
Brett KavanaughJoined the majority
Neil GorsuchJoined the majority
Samuel AlitoJoined the majority
Clarence ThomasJoined the majority
Dissent(3)
Amy BarrettWrote a dissent
Sonia SotomayorJoined a dissent
Elena KaganJoined a dissent
Data notes
Each justice’s vote and what they wrote are from the justice-centered file of the Supreme Court Database. “Wrote a concurrence” means the justice sided with the majority and wrote separately; a justice who dissented in part is counted on the side they took overall. A justice who wrote nothing is listed as joining their side.
Positions are each justice’s Martin–Quinn score for the case’s term, the same scores as the Ideology page: negative is more liberal, positive more conservative. A score sums up a justice’s votes across the whole term, so it says where they usually sit, not why they voted as they did here. The median line is the Court’s median justice that term.
The parties
Who brought the case to the Court, who answered it, and how it got there.
- Petitioner
- FischerProtester, demonstrator, picketer or pamphleteer (non-employment related), or non-indigent loiterer
- Respondent
- United StatesUnited States
- Reached the Court by
- Certiorari (the Court chose to hear it)
Data notes
The names are the two sides of the case’s title. The description under each is the Supreme Court Database’s category for that party, in its own wording. The petitioner is the side that asked the Supreme Court to review the decision below. “Why it was taken” appears only when the majority opinion says lower courts disagreed or were unsure about the question; reasons that would fit any case (“to resolve the question presented”, “an important question”) are left out.
The law at issue
The law the Court was asked to apply, and the kind of power it used to decide.
- Provision
- Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002
- Kind of law
- Infrequently litigated statutes
- Decided by
- Statutory construction
Data notes
The Supreme Court Database codes the main constitutional provision, statute or court rule each case turned on, and the basis of the decision: judicial review of a federal or state law, interpreting a statute, supervising the lower courts, and so on. A case can rest on more than one. “Overruled” counts only where the majority opinion says so.
Timeline
What happened at the Court and how the case got there, newest first.
- Jun 28, 2024DecidedDecided · Decided 6–3: vacated and remanded. Fischer won.
- Apr 16, 2024ArguedArgued · Oral argument before the Court.
- Not datedTaken upTaken up · The Supreme Court agreed to hear the case (certiorari).
- Not datedCourt belowCourt below · Decided by the U.S. Court of Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit: reversed and remanded, with a dissent.
- Not datedBeganBegan · The case began in the District Of Columbia U.S. District Court.
Data notes
From the Supreme Court Database: the court the case began in, the court whose decision the Supreme Court reviewed and what that court did, how the case came to the Court, and the dates of argument and decision. The database does not date the steps in the lower courts. Court names are the database’s.
Other decisions on the same issue
2 other argued cases since 1946 on statutory construction of criminal laws: obstruction of justice, newest first.
- Charles Andrew Fowler, aka Man, Petitioner v. United States563 U.S. 668May 26, 2011 · 563 U.S. 668Criminal procedure7–27–2 band
- United States v. Robert P. Aguilar515 U.S. 593Jun 21, 1995 · 515 U.S. 593Criminal procedure6–36–3 band
Data notes
Every other orally argued case with a clear vote, from the 1946 term on, that the Supreme Court Database files under the same issue as this one. The database gives each case one issue from a list of about 270 (abortion, search and seizure of vehicles, the death penalty, and so on), whatever law it turned on.
Official record
Read the argument audio on Oyez and Wikipedia. Case data from the Supreme Court Database, Version 2026 Release 01, through the 2025 term.