Welcome to Supreme Court Brief, my regular column breaking down the top news from the nation's highest court. My name is Jimmy Hoover. I have been covering the Supreme Court for the National Law Journal and Law.com since April 2023. Thanks for reading. If you'd like to get in touch, you can reach me at [email protected]. Follow me on X: @JimmyHooverDC.

It was an eventful day on One First St. NE on Tuesday as the Supreme Court handed down two decisions and heard oral arguments in Fischer v. U.S. It was a full house as well, with Justice Clarence Thomas returning from an unexplained absence Monday to announce one of the day's rulings and ask the first question during the Fischer argument, as has become his practice.

The Fischer case is the first criminal prosecution of a Jan. 6 defendant to be reviewed by the Supreme Court, which on Tuesday debated whether the U.S. Department of Justice can use a 2002 witness tampering statute to prosecute rioters who entered the U.S. Capitol in order to stop the certification of President Joe Biden's electoral victory.