Public January 6 profile · ready to claim
Joseph W. Fischer
Pardoned January 6 defendant
Documented editorial-use imageJoseph W. Fischer of Jonestown, Pennsylvania spent his working life in law enforcement — a patrolman with the North Cornwall Township Police Department in Lebanon County (FACT, Philadelphia Inquirer / WUSA9). Most defendants fight their case in one courtroom. Joseph Fischer took his to the highest one in the land. His challenge to the government's use of the obstruction statute, 18 U.S.C. § 1512(c)(2), became Fischer v. United States — and on June 28, 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6-3 in his favor, holding that prosecutors had stretched an evidence-tampering law beyond what Congress wrote (FACT, SCOTUSblog). That single ruling reshaped hundreds of January 6 prosecutions nationwide, and it carries his name. Whatever else is said about this docket, Joseph W. Fischer changed the law of the land. The court record (FACT): arrested February 19, 2021; indicted March 19, 2021. After the Supreme Court win, the obstruction count was dropped (CNN), his remaining counts were set for trial in February 2025 (WUSA9), and the case was ended by the January 20, 2025 presidential clemency proclamation covering January 6 offenses. Case record: Case No. 1:21-cr-234, U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. This profile is unclaimed. If this is you — or your family — claiming it is free, forever.
The case file
On the record
- Case number
- 1:21-cr-234
- Court
- U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia
- Disposition
- Arrested 2/19/2021 and initial appearance held the same day. Indicted 3/19/2021. Superseding indictment filed
- Arrested
- February 19, 2021
Charges
- Civil Disorder; Assaulting, Resisting, or Impeding Certain Officers and Aiding and Abetting; Obstruction of an Official Proceeding and Aiding and Abetting; Entering and Remaining in a Restricted Building or Grounds; Disorderly and Disruptive Conduct in a Restricted Building or Grounds; Disorderly Conduct in a Capitol Building; Parading, Demonstrating, or Picketing in a Capitol Building
Press & news
- https://www.cnn.com/2024/08/29/politics/joseph-fischer-january-6/index.html →
- https://www.inquirer.com/politics/nation/supreme-court-ruling-joseph-fischer-january-6-trump-20240628.html →
- https://www.scotusblog.com/2024/06/justices-rule-for-jan-6-defendant →
- https://www.wusa9.com/article/news/national/capitol-riots/ex-pennsylvania-patrolman-whose-jan-6-case-reached-scotus-to-begin-trial-in-february-joseph-w-fischer-jonestown-obstruction/65-14251bbe-a4b4-46a9-b5b4-bbbd69268f27 →
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Connection to United States v. Nichols
Joseph W. Fischer appears in the record of United States v. Nichols through 2 shared documents on file below. The full case — timeline, people, documents — is public and free.
Walk the whole case →Evidence on file
2 documents on file
Court2 documents
Court orders, rulings, transcripts, and docket entries.
ruling · Jun 28, 2024
Jacob Chansley — Fischer v. United States Legal Context
The Supreme Court narrowed §1512(c)(2), the sole offense to which Chansley pleaded guilty. No Chansley-specific post-Fischer vacatur order was verified in this review.
ruling · Apr 7, 2023
D.C. Circuit obstruction opinion involving Fischer, Lang, and Miller
The consolidated appellate decision reinstated the Section 1512(c)(2) obstruction counts against Joseph Fischer, Edward Lang, and Garret Miller before the Supreme Court later narrowed the statute.