The US Supreme Court has been asked to consider a petition filed by John Nassif, a Florida man convicted of unlawfully “parading” during the January 6, 2021 riot at the US Capitol. Nassif is challenging his conviction on the basis of an obscure statute that makes it a crime to willfully and knowingly parade, demonstrate, or picket in the Capitol buildings.
Nassif was originally convicted of multiple misdemeanors, including disorderly and disruptive conduct, violent entry, and parading, and was sentenced to seven months in prison. He has since been released, but his lawyers argue that there are urgent questions surrounding the application of the parading statute. They claim that the language of the statute is unclear and that it violates Nassif’s First Amendment rights.
In a previous ruling, a district court judge rejected Nassif’s request to dismiss the parading charge pretrial, citing a previous court decision that classified the Capitol buildings as a “nonpublic forum” where the government can limit First Amendment activities so long as the restrictions are “reasonable in light of the purpose of the forum and are viewpoint neutral.”
Nassif appealed the decision to the US Circuit Court, where a three-judge panel found that his lawyers incorrectly argued that the parading and picketing statute was invalid and couldn’t be applied to anyone, including Nassif. The panel cited previous cases, including Bynum v. US Capitol Police Board and Lederman v. United States, which classified the Capitol buildings as nonpublic forums.
However, Nassif’s lawyers argue that there is a conflict between the D.C. Circuit’s view of the legality of demonstrations in the Capitol building and the D.C. Court of Appeals’ view, which holds that the Capitol Rotunda is a public forum where speech restrictions must be narrowly tailored. If the Supreme Court decides to hear the case, it could potentially affect more than 400 other cases surrounding the January 6 riot.
It’s unclear whether the Supreme Court will grant the petition, as it typically requires four out of nine justices to approve it. Two legal experts expressed doubts about the likelihood of the justices taking up the case, citing the court’s recent ruling on United States v. Fischer, which elevated the burden of proof needed for the DOJ to prosecute defendants for obstructing an official proceeding.
There have been more than 1,450 people charged in connection to the Jan. 6 riot, and the most common charge is the illegal parading and picketing misdemeanor. More than 460 people are facing such charges, according to the DOJ.
