Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/23pdf/23-5572_l6hn.pdf
Page Number: 15.0

Cite as:  603 U. S. ____ (2024) 

11 

Opinion of the Court 

corruptly  obstructs  congressional  inquiries  or  investiga-
tions.  Section 1507 covers picketing or parading in certain 
locations “with the intent of interfering with, obstructing,
or impeding the administration of justice.”  Section 1509 co-
vers the obstruction of the exercise of rights or performance 
of  duties  under  court  orders.    Section  1510(a)  covers  ob-
struction of federal criminal investigations through bribery.
Section 1511(a) covers certain obstruction of state or local 
law  enforcement  with  the  intent  to  facilitate  illegal  gam-
bling.  And Sections 1516, 1517, and 1518 address obstruc-
tive  acts  in  specific  contexts,  including  federal  audits,  ex-
aminations  of  financial  institutions,  and  inquiries  into 
healthcare-related offenses. 

If the Government were correct, then the “otherwise ob-
structs, influences, or impedes any official proceeding” pro-
vision—which  is  buried  in  subsection  (c)(2)  of  Section
1512—would largely obviate the need for that broad array 
of other obstruction statutes.  In light of our obligation to 
give meaning where possible to each word and provision in 
the Code, Taylor, 529 U. S., at 404, our narrower interpre-
tation of subsection (c)(2) is the superior one. 

2 

An  unbounded  interpretation  of  subsection  (c)(2)  would 
also render superfluous the careful delineation of different
types  of  obstructive  conduct  in  Section  1512  itself.  That 
section  provides  a  reticulated  list  of  nearly  two  dozen 
means of committing obstruction, with varying degrees of
culpability and penalties ranging from three years to life in
prison, or even death.  Section 1512(a)(2)(B)(iv), for exam-
ple,  authorizes  up  to  30  years’  imprisonment  for  someone 
who uses or attempts to use physical force against another
person with the intent of causing him to be absent from an 
official proceeding.  See §1512(a)(3)(B)(ii) (specifying pun-
ishment).  Section 1512(d)(1), by contrast, authorizes only