Former New Jersey Superior Court Judge Andrew Napolitano told Newsmax on Monday that the recent Supreme Court rulings could lead to a wave of resentencing for those involved in the Jan. 6 Capitol attack.
"Here's the way the system works: the feds are not going to give out a get-out-of-jail-free card. They're going to say, get your lawyer and have your lawyer make an application to the judge who sentenced you and demonstrate how that sentencing was inappropriate," Napolitano explained on "Carl Higbie FRONTLINE."
"Under the Supreme Court's ruling that came down after the sentencing, most Supreme Court decisions are not retroactive. They're prospective only. But the Jan. 6 decisions, the immunity involving Trump decisions, those are retroactive."
According to The Hill, numerous defendants from the Jan. 6 incident might need to undergo resentencing or further legal procedures later this summer following a Supreme Court ruling questioning the Department of Justice's extensive prosecution of the Capitol riot.
This decision has forced federal prosecutors to reassess their approach to the obstruction charge, now limited in scope, while upholding their belief that the riot posed a danger to American democracy.
Over 350 individuals involved in the disturbance, alleged to have disrupted Congress' certification of the 2020 electoral vote, were accused of obstructing an official proceeding, accounting for roughly a quarter of all those implicated in the incident.
Napolitano emphasized that it is now up to the defendants' legal teams to act based on the new Supreme Court rulings.
"It's the burden of these people, these unfortunate people who've been jailed on the basis of the government that overcharged them, to get their lawyers to go back into court and say, had we known what the Supreme Court was going to do, we wouldn't have pled guilty. Bring us back to square one, and the judge will have to do it," he stated.
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Jim Thomas ✉
Jim Thomas is a writer based in Indiana. He holds a bachelor's degree in Political Science, a law degree from U.I.C. Law School, and has practiced law for more than 20 years.
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