The Supreme Court on Wednesday struck down part of a federal anti-corruption law that makes it a crime for state and local officials to take gifts valued at more than $5,000 from a donor who had previously been awarded lucrative contracts or other government benefits thanks to the efforts of the official.
By a 6-3 vote, the justices overturned the conviction of a former Indiana mayor who asked for and took a $13,000 payment from the owners of a local truck dealership after he helped them win $1.1 million in city contracts for the purchase of garbage trucks.
In ruling for the former mayor, the justices drew a distinction between bribery, which requires proof of an illegal deal, and a gratuity that can be a gift or a reward for a past favor. They said the officials may be charged and prosecuted for bribery, but not for taking money for past favors if there was no proof of an illicit deal.
So as near as I can tell, the Supreme Court’s goal is to create some vague illusion that corruption is not to be tolerated by making it a crime if and only if people with a specific interest in a specific ruling or piece of legislation offer a substantial amount of money or something of equivalent value while clearly communicating their intent to buy the influence of an official and said official then accepts the bribe, clearly announces their intent to act according to the bribe-payer’s wishes solely because they’ve been paid to, then does so.
And in literally ALL other cases, it somehow won’t count and will be entirely legal.
They have already decided money is speech, so this is a 1st amendment ruling?
Also an easy way to cover their asses for all the bribes they have taken.
Yes - it’s pretty much a given, cynically, that a corrupt court is going to rule that corruption is legal.
As I often do, I wonder if this is going to be one of the things that future historians will point to as a notable event in the days leading up to the collapse of the US.
What the actual fuck?
corrupt supreme court making it legal to bribe them? stinks
Who would have guessed the bribe takers are all for bribes…
Ok, sounds like the Supreme Court is just sorta all-in on institutional corruption. Got it.
Why wouldn’t they be? Aren’t they the product of institutional corruption?
They’re a product of unrestrained Capitalism capturing its own government and accompanying regulators. This was the inevitable outcome of “turning the bull loose.”
Short term profit > the needs of the many and the long term habitability of this planet for all future humans.
Who cares about our species’ future? Bezos’ support mega yacht for his mega yacht needs a support support mega yacht to keep it company!
It’s yachts all the way down.
Because they’d be the first to go if we cleaned up corruption. I can see them sitting there wondering about all their “gifts” and seeing the chance to dismantle any laws that would bring that into question.
Illegitimate court. Not a single ruling from them should be upheld or paid attention to by any citizen. Over half of them have proven themselves to be corrupt BEYOND shame.
Oh my, 6-3, who ever could those 3 have been who didn’t want corruption?
Ya know, if 2016 was just a hair different we’d have seen 5-4 against such a ruling. But ya know, people were so upset about Hillary’s emails, or someone. Sigh.
“no proof of an illicit deal”
The money IS the proof of the illicit deal, they gave him money when there was no legal or reasonable reason to give him money.
“We wanted to just give away money” isn’t a legal reason for anyone who isn’t recording for a you tube channel at this point.
But the SCOTUS already said money is free speech. This is exactly the natural progression of Republican corruption we expected.
One of the clowns on this court is a corrupt fuckhead who has been accepting bribes from billionaires for years.
Do you have any idea how little that narrows it down?
This was another case by the conservative law network where the facts were either made up, or so badly misrepresented that they might as well have been made up. This mayor basically walked into the company’s office and said, “I got you those contracts. Give me money if you want any more in the future.”
“Nuh uh, you can’t prove it!”
What a fucking joke.
It feels like they are trying to radicalize me.
Have you heard of project 2025?
Have you heard of project 2024 where Billionaire Republicans own all American politicians by bribing Democrats through AIPAC?
🔥🇺🇸🔥
I’d say we had a nice run, but considering genocide, slavery, highly selective voting rights, Jim Crow, Union Busting, supply side economics, foreign government toppling for domestic economic goals, warring to open up markets for resource exploitation, citizens united, etc… No we didn’t.
We weren’t even some benevolent saviors in World War II despite the constant crowing, we had our pacific fleet destroyed so we fought back. The war came to us, we were practicing eugenics prior to WWII.
Yup, we entered the European theater because the ppl we loaned all that money were getting their asses kicked and knew if they lost we’d never see a cent back.
And prior to us getting attacked, there were a metric ton of powerful Americans who sincerely dug the Nazi’s style, including Henry Ford, who manufactured war machines for both sides, and is still held up to children as a titan and pioneer of American entrepreneurship because he made a lot of money and facilitated more profit for other capitalists, all that matters here, so who cares what he supported ideologically amirite?
Let’s be fair: Henry Ford was an antisemite way before Hitler.
In 1918, Henry Ford purchased his hometown newspaper, The Dearborn Independent. A year and a half later, he began publishing a series of articles that claimed a vast Jewish conspiracy was infecting America. The series ran in the following 91 issues. Ford bound the articles into four volumes titled “The International Jew,” and distributed half a million copies to his vast network of dealerships and subscribers. The rhetoric was not unusual for its content, as much as its scope. As one of the most famous men in America, Henry Ford legitimized ideas that otherwise may have been given little authority.
Henry Ford, the modern progenitor of “The Jyoos” conspiracy. Thats a crazy factoid. But not really cause you have to be off your rocker to exploit that many people and be hateful enough to buy out a newspaper just to trash a peoples.
It’s very depressing, also for those of us in the imperial sphere of countries. Because we’re beholden to US foreign policy, and the worse the US gets, the more dangerous it is for us.
I mean, we (Australia) already we’re doing war crimes for the US in Afghanistan (look up David McBride, the Australian military lawyer), already buying $300 subs as some kind of tributary payment, already followed you into dozens of wars we had no business being a part of, I truly worry for what’s next under a more corrupt US regime.
Yikes.
Did you really expect them to rule against their own economic interest?
