This is quid pro quo being ruled as NOT bribery because it comes to the person on the backside of the favor. This is almost certainly to do with the majority of the court recently being outed about the amount of high value ~~bribes~~ gifts/vacations they are getting from "friends".
"We realized that people now knew the things we constantly do that are wrong, so we made them not wrong anymore."
This is almost certainly to do with the majority of the court recently being outed about the amount of high value bribes gifts/vacations they are getting from “friends”.
Nah, this is a long running theme. In chronological order-
Sun Diamond Growers - The government must prove the bribe is actually connected to the act.
Skilling - Corruption charges require a second party to give you a bribe or kickback, self dealing is fine.
Citizens United - Money is political speech, and you can spend as much as you want on an election.
McDonnell - Acting as a pay to play gatekeeper is fine. Even if the government connects the bribe to the act.
Ted Cruz - Politicians can keep unspent campaign funds as long as they maintain the fiction of having lent the campaign money.
Snyder - Kickbacks aren't actionable. <- We are here.
Holy fuck! As if Citizens United wasn't bad enough. Our government is fully for sale now.
So that means that I can engage in a a little tax evasion, as a treat, right?
On a serious note, from the article:
the law makes it a very serious crime, punishable by up to 15 years in prison, for a federal official to accept a bribe
Can we start actually enforcing this please?
Define bribe and you’ll start to see where enforcing this becomes a problem. Especially with legalized corruption in the form of lobbying and ‘gifts’.
Well, federal officials are already forbidden from accepting gifts/anything valued more than $25 in one instance, and no more than $100 a year from any one group or person. Enforcing that seems like a good place to start.
So is the difference "I'll give you money to do this thing" versus "I'll give you money if you do this thing"?
They both sound like bribes to me. Money, goods, or services are just handed over at different times.
I fucking hate these people. No shame. No morals. No humanity.
My interpretation of the article is that it's a question of timing. If you offer me money in order to hook you up, that's a bribe. But if I hook you up and later you give me money in thanks, that's not a bribe.
Obviously both of them are corrupt. But apparently this law can only target the former.
No see the first one is a bribe, the second one is a job. I'm paying you for your time! /s
That was actually the argument made by the official in question. Called it a "consulting fee".
The way I read all of this and th decision is that they are saying that this law specifically only applies to bribery. They define it as a quid quo pro in advance of an act.
In this particular case, you can't charge the guy with bribery because it doesn't meet the definition.
That doesn't mean a "tip after the fact" isn't corrupt. That doesn't mean that's not in violation of some other law. It's saying that you can't apply this law to this case. This court is threading a fucking needle in an attempt to make this a state issue and say the Fed law can't apply.
Justice Jackson's dissent is amazing though:
Snyder's absurd and atextual reading of the statute is one only today's Court could love."
The Court's reasoning elevates nonexistent federalism concerns over the plain text of this statute and is a quintessential example of the tail wagging the dog," Jackson added.
Officials who use their public positions for private gain threaten the integrity of our most important institutions. Greed makes governments—at every level—less responsive, less efficient, and less trustworthy from the perspective of the communities they serve,"
SCOTUS has routinely bent over backwards to protect politicians from corruption and bribery charges though so the message is clear. You cannot charge a politician with bribery except in extreme circumstances. Like them being a democrat.
typically payments made to an official after an official act as a token of appreciation
Am I taking crazy pills or is this asshole just literally saying here that it's okay to be corrupt?
Don't worry, it's only okay if the payment is made after the act is carried out. Everyone knows that corruption follows a strict order of operations, which if broken, means it's not corruption anymore!
bro i thought this was an onion post for a second what the fuck just happened
i love how the standard went from "the appearance of impropriety" to "you know what, just leave the money on the counter".
Bro.... Fuck this country.
Saw the title, figured it couldn't be that bad. Read the article. It is that bad.
I didn't think they could weaken it any further, you already had to get caught on tape exchanging money, laughing maniacally, and saying, "This is a bribe for X action."
Now you can do that, as long as it happens after the politician delivers. That's a kickback. It's the fucking definition of a kickback. They gave someone a contract and the contractor then gave the contract giver a large sum of money.
If they ever flip back to a Democrat majority, it's going to take decades to undo all the damage this court has done (and they'll still have the incentive to not undo stuff like this).
Longer than that. Democrats are pretty centrist these days, so some of this will linger on for long long time.
seems like a good thread to plug https://represent.us
they describe themselves as
RepresentUs is America’s leading nonpartisan anti-corruption organization fighting to fix our broken and ineffective government. We unite people across the political spectrum to pass laws that hold corrupt politicians accountable, defeat special interests, and force the government to meet the needs of the American people.
here's their policy platform https://represent.us/policy-platform/
they claim to have played a part in over 185 pieces of legislation (mostly at the state level) that contributed to their core platform https://represent.us/our-wins/
here are their ongoing campaigns presented state by state https://represent.us/2024-campaigns/
nobody and no organization are perfect but I feel like most people can find something to agree on here
If you write "NOT BRIBE" on the cheek, it obviously CANNOT be a bribe.
Politicians can legally be bribed after the fact now. Phew, what a relief.
I guess step two is to decide exactly how many hours a bribe needs to be given, before doing someone a favour, for it to just be considered a gift.
Next up "donor" patches for clothing, donor branded shoes, and donor outfits. Have our state officials look like NASCAR.
Yet another thing that tens of millions of people across the country would instantly lose their job for, made even MORE ok for the people who can cause the most damage by doing it. Every corporate conflict of interest training I’ve taken at current companies makes it abundantly clear that even the APPEARANCE of a POTENTIAL conflict needs to be disclosed and handled appropriately. Never mind there being literal, in writing, cash money kickbacks.
When it comes to having lower standards for state officials given special powers than we do for random schmucks, at least we’re consistent. From the lowest local cop to the highest federal politicians, why do we not only refuse to set standards but also remove ethical expectations?
SCOTUS has officially entered the sewage system courtesy of the GOP and Trump.
These people are all trash. All of them. Not a single decent MAGA in existence.
[OLIGARCHY INTENSIFIES]
When can we start gifting them with bonfires as thanks for this change in law?
And with this final blow... the entire government of the USA is up for sale!
It proves that it already was and has been. Citizens United tipped their hand that anyone with money (regardless of citizenship) is welcome to play.
It's not a bribe it's a gift! But it sounds like they need to rewrite the law. Politicians shouldn't be accepting gratuities, gifts, or bribes.
Gee, I wonder why Justice Thomas might be friendly towards the accused in a public corruption case. Maybe Harlan Crow encouraged him.
I think SCOTUS isn't relevant anymore. If i were a state governor I would flat out refuse to abide by or use a guidance anything coming from this "court".
The Supreme Court members who outed themselves as pro-corruption need to be given the 'Vote of No Confidence" treatment. Not just Kavanaugh, Alito, and Thomas, also remove the ones who quietly voted for post action bribes to be legal.
Openly corrupt assholes rule being openly corrupt very legal and very cool.
Yeah, that sounds about right.
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