The Supreme Court rules that state officials can engage in a little corruption, as a treat

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".

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?

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.

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,"

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.

Haha, what a silly Onion article!

:checks URL:

Oh. Oh no.

Its just out in the open. Corruption on full blast.

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.

Next up "donor" patches for clothing, donor branded shoes, and donor outfits. Have our state officials look like NASCAR.

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.

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).

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.

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.

my condolences

When can we start gifting them with bonfires as thanks for this change in law?

These people are all trash. All of them. Not a single decent MAGA in existence.

[OLIGARCHY INTENSIFIES]

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.

And with this final blow... the entire government of the USA is up for sale!

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".

....Am I allowed to pass on to a better place now?

Openly corrupt assholes rule being openly corrupt very legal and very cool.

Yeah, that sounds about right.

Gee, I wonder why Justice Thomas might be friendly towards the accused in a public corruption case. Maybe Harlan Crow encouraged him.

Posted this in another thread on the issue but worth saying again because most people see to be confused as to the actual implications of this ruling:

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 §666.

Tldr the ruling only was about in relation to one law. The party may be guilty of a form of corruption under a different law.

https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/23pdf/23-108_8n5a.pdf

Read page 2 of the syllabus where it says "Held:" until page 4 if you want the shorter version.

Otherwise there's a 16 page explanation under the "opinion of the court" section directly after the syllabus, for those who are interested in a longer explanation.

This is clearly a dark road to go down and a terrible idea for the country. I personally couldn't be anymore against this.

That said should there not be stricter rules on titles on a news subreddit? A lot of the titles I've seen recently are clearly prejudiced or undescriptive.

I think it's important we maintain a high level of accuracy on news subreddits to limit the spread of misinformation.

NOW is the proper time for Alito to hang his fucking flag upside down.

JFC.

And I get embarrassed by Indiana once again. Sigh.

It's a GOOD THING none of these Justices ruling on the Legality of Bribery have EVER taken Bribes!

Now the politicians want tips?!

It's why they got elected.

Clarence Thomas: “Come on guys, I really need this ruling.”

I've posted this elsewhere but I hate this so: A "donation" up front says I'll see what I can do, money after the fact says I'll fight for you. Sounds like bribery to me. Not that the current system isn't but backend feels so much worse

This title is great lmao

Remember kids, bribes are a sometimes food 🙃

Who's ready for a sit it?

A little less prosecution a little corruption please

All this misdirection is satisfactionin' me

A little less bite and a lot more dark

A lot less right just to serve the sharks

Close your mouth, evil off the chart baby pacify me

pacify me, baby

Cake or Death, but if you choose cake, it's only given AFTER the death

People are way overreacting to this. This decision was 100% about a federal statute. Unaffected are the MANY, MANY state and local laws preventing state and local government employees from taking gifts.

Edit: for y’all downvoters, even the linked article states

In any event, the decision in *Snyder *is narrow. It does not rule that Congress could not ban gratuities. It simply rules that this particular statute only reaches bribes.