In a 6-3 ruling, the court’s highly anticipated opinion threw out a key part of the federal bribery statute and sided with the former mayor of Portage, Ind., James Snyder.
Former Portage Mayor James Snyder arrives with attorney, Jackie Bennett, Jr, and his wife Deborah, to federal court in Hammond on March 15, 2018. The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday threw out a key part of the federal bribery statute often used in many Chicago-area corruption cases — including that of ex-Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan — saying it does not apply to “gratuities” given to elected officials after the fact.
The decision vacates Snyder’s conviction for taking a $13,000 “consulting” fee from a garbage truck contractor that had recently won two lucrative contracts with the town. “The Government’s so-called guidance would leave state and local officials entirely at sea to guess about what gifts they are allowed to accept under federal law, with the threat of up to 10 years in federal prison if they happen to guess wrong,” the opinion states. “That is not how federal criminal law works. And the Court has rejected the view that it should construe a criminal statute on the assumption that the Government will use it responsibly.
“By including the term ‘rewarded,’ Congress made clear that the timing of the agreement is the key, not the timing of payment,” the opinion stated. “Although a gratuity or reward offered and accepted by a state or local official after the official act may be unethical or illegal under other federal, state, or local laws, the gratuity does not violate” Section 666.
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