A federal judge ordered the government to refund restitution payments and fines paid by a Maryland couple after a federal appeals court vacated their misdemeanor convictions tied to protests at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Chief Judge James Boasberg of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia reversed a position he took in June when he denied a request by Cynthia Ballenger and Christopher Price to recoup about $1,000 in payments, The Washington Examiner reported Thursday.
Ballenger and Price sought refunds of $570 each in March after they were among Jan. 6 defendants pardoned by President Donald Trump.
In a new memorandum order issued Wednesday, Boasberg said the decision by the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals to vacate the convictions changed the legal posture of the case.
"In plain English, vacatur — unlike a pardon — 'wholly nullifie[s]' the vacated order and 'wipes the slate clean,'" Boasberg wrote. "Having viewed the question afresh, the Court now agrees with defendants."
Boasberg noted that Ballenger and Price were pardoned in January while their appeal remained pending.
Because the pardons mooted the appeal, the D.C. Circuit vacated the convictions, prompting Boasberg to conclude that the government must return payments imposed under the now-nullified judgments.
"Even if defendants' pardon does not entitle them to refunds, the resulting vacatur of their convictions might," Boasberg wrote.
"Because the court could order defendants to pay assessments and restitution, it can order those payments reversed," he added. "When a conviction is vacated, the government must return any payments exacted because of it."
Boasberg has faced criticism from Republican lawmakers over other matters involving the Trump administration.
Some Republicans have called for Boasberg's impeachment, citing reports that he approved subpoenas directing phone companies to provide records and personal data for multiple sitting conservative lawmakers.
"We now know that Judge Boasberg signed the gag orders for Members of Congress without evidentiary support," Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., wrote on X on Wednesday. "There must be consequences for these blatant abuses of legal process."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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