TheBadPlaceThe New Republic | Will the Supreme Court Make Bribery Even Easier? by Matt Ford
If you want to see the dire state of American anti-corruption efforts, look no further than the Supreme Court’s docket. No fewer than three state and local officials are begging the justices to overturn their criminal convictions for various corruption-related offenses. Joining some of their pleas are three public-corruption defendants who had their cases tossed by the justices as well.
At issue here is whether otherwise lawful campaign donations to a candidate can amount to quid pro quo bribery. Prosecutors and juries in these cases answered that question in the affirmative, as did the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. But the Supreme Court may opt to use one or all of the cases to further bulldoze the government’s ability to police corruption among public officials.
All three of the active petitioners are Ohio officials—two of whom were participants in the Ohio nuclear bribery scandal a few years ago, and one who was convicted of more pedestrian corruption charges. We’ll start with the boring one since it is more helpfully illustrative of the unsavory dynamic that these officials want to protect.
Read more: https://newrepublic.com/article/208078/supreme-court-roberts-bribery-corruption
