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The Supreme Court ruled in June that gifts and payments meant to reward actions taken by state and local officials were not a form of bribery, nor was it a form of public corruption.
The 6 to 3 ruling was split along ideological lines, according to the New York Times. Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh wrote that, on the question of whether federal law makes it a crime for state and local officials to receive gratuities for political actions, “the answer is no.”
“Officials who use their public positions for private gain threaten the integrity of our most important institutions,” Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson wrote. “Greed makes governments — at every level — less responsive, less efficient and less trustworthy from the perspective of the communities they serve.” (READ: What Do Our Potential Presidents Think Of The Economy?)
Reversal Of Rulings
The justices ruled to reverse a lower court decision to uphold the corruption conviction of a local mayor who accepted $13,000 from a trucking company that received $1 million in contracts during his time in office, according to Reuters. (TAKE A POLL: What Is the Most Pressing Political Issue Facing Our Country Today?)
“Last year, the court overturned the bribery conviction of an ex-aide to Democratic former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo in a ruling that also limited the ability of federal prosecutors to pursue corruption cases,” Reuters added.
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