"The Sufferer & the Witness" was originally scheduled for a June 20 release, although this date was pushed back to July 4. This new date coincided with Independence Day in the United States, which McIlrath noted was purely coincidental. In the United States, the album entered the "Billboard" 200 at number ten, and sold 48,327 copies in its first week. It sold over 140,000 copies by August 2006, and was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America in August 2008. In Canada, the album debuted at number five on the Canadian Albums Chart, and was certified platinum by Music Canada, denoting shipments of 100,000 copies.