It may affect hundreds of similar cases: North Carolina J6er was sentenced to commutation by the Court of Appeal 2:1, and the judge appointed by Obama voted against it To date, more than 1,000 people have been charged with federal crimes related to the Jan. 6 Capitol incident. More than 600 of them have pleaded guilty or been convicted after trials by juries or judges. About 600 people were sentenced, more than half of whom received sentences ranging from three days to 18 years in prison. A federal appeals court in DC on Friday ordered a commutation of the sentence of a North Carolina man who committed misdemeanor charges during the Capitol riot, a ruling that could directly affect dozens of lower-level cases in the massive J6 prosecution. We media commentators believe that hundreds of similar cases can be affected. The Washington appeals court said James Little was wrongly sentenced to prison and probation for a misdemeanor, part of which was part of a court order to monitor defendants who were not in jail. What happened at the time was that Little entered the Capitol but was not involved in any acts of vandalism or violence. He pleaded guilty to one charge in 2021, which carries a maximum penalty of six months in prison. He was sentenced to 60 days in prison last year, plus three years of probation monitoring. According to court records, “On January 6, 2021, Little watched President Donald Trump’s speech live before the riots broke out, then walked to the Capitol, fist-bumped with other rioters, and Enter the Senate Gallery.” After leaving the Capitol, he and others prayed on the Capitol steps and sang the Twisted Sister song “We’re Not Gonna Take It,” court documents show. In a 2-1 opinion, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit said probation and imprisonment “should not be combined as a single sentence” for minor crimes, adding that “there is an option to deal with each separately.” Of the three judges, Obama-appointed Robert Wilkins dissented only. The decision could invalidate the sentences of dozens of J6 defendants who were given “separate sentences” for minor offences. At least 80 other J6ers have received prison terms and probation for the same misdemeanor as Little, according to an Associated Press analysis. The AP (Associated Press) reporter said that the actual impact may not be large, because almost all of them may have already served their sentences. Little’s lawyers asked the appeals court to simply order an end to his subsequent probation monitoring, as he has already served 60 days. However, some analysis on Twitter from the media believes that this will be a turning point for J6ers, which will have a shock wave of overturning the unjust, false and wrongly sentenced cases. According to legal procedures, the U.S. Department of Justice has the right to appeal the judgment. A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney General’s Office said it is reviewing the judgment to decide whether to take action next. https://ift.tt/dnG3qPv https://t.me/MoshangUS Telegram MoshangUS in the United States MoshangUS Independent and fast American life information and news commentary