Imagine we have a person who is wrongfully accused of a crime. The police and the district attorney subject him to a figurative colonoscopy of investigations. They check his bank accounts, his club memberships, his academic records, his emails and text messages, his social media accounts, his tax returns, and interview everyone he has ever known since high school.
But again, he is innocent of any crime, and has been wrongfully accused.
In an attempt to defend himself against this "legal" siege, he contacts his friends and tells them to reveal only the barest details of what they know, he tells his bank to examine the warrant with a fine tooth comb, and to refuse to provide anything but the bare minimum of information. He tells his Alma Mater to withhold everything possible from his academic records, providing only what is absolutely required. And so on.
Is he "obstructing justice"? Hell no, he is just trying to protect himself against a malicious prosecution.
To coin a phrase, he is obstructing INJUSTICE, which is not only NOT a crime; it is reasonable and appropriate under the circumstances.
Does any of this seem familiar?
But again, he is innocent of any crime, and has been wrongfully accused.
In an attempt to defend himself against this "legal" siege, he contacts his friends and tells them to reveal only the barest details of what they know, he tells his bank to examine the warrant with a fine tooth comb, and to refuse to provide anything but the bare minimum of information. He tells his Alma Mater to withhold everything possible from his academic records, providing only what is absolutely required. And so on.
Is he "obstructing justice"? Hell no, he is just trying to protect himself against a malicious prosecution.
To coin a phrase, he is obstructing INJUSTICE, which is not only NOT a crime; it is reasonable and appropriate under the circumstances.
Does any of this seem familiar?