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United Statesv.Tia Deyon Pugh

CourtUnited States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
Docket No.21-13136
DecidedJanuary 18, 2024
Reporter90 F.4th 1318; 2024 U.S. App. LEXIS 1193; 30 Fla. L. Weekly Fed. C 609; 2024 WL 188326
JudgesLagoa and Brasher, Circuit Judges, and Boulee, District Judge, sitting by designation.
Tags
CriminalFirst AmendmentCommerce ClauseVoid for VaguenessCivil Disorder StatuteRiot ProsecutionFederal Constitutional ChallengeEleventh Circuit
Case Summary

During a 2020 Mobile protest that devolved into a riot near Interstate 10, Tia Pugh used a baseball bat to smash a police car blocking the interstate ramp, diverting officers from the barricade. A jury convicted her under 18 U.S.C. § 231(a)(3), which bars intentionally obstructing law enforcement during a civil disorder affecting interstate commerce. The Eleventh Circuit affirmed, rejecting Pugh’s facial challenges under the Commerce Clause, the First Amendment’s overbreadth and content-neutrality rules, and the Fifth Amendment’s vagueness doctrine. It held that the statute’s interstate-commerce element limits it to valid applications and that “obstruct,” “impede,” and “interfere” together require hindering officers through more than mere words. The court found the statute content-neutral and Pugh had not shown substantial unconstitutional applications, but it left open whether some expressive acts that physically obstruct police could be covered. Because disabling the police car during the riot clearly fell within the statute, Pugh could not press a facial vagueness challenge based on possible applications to others. Her conviction and sentence were affirmed.

Opinion

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