The decision drew strong condemnation from Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, who joined her liberal colleagues in dissent, saying, “Justice Snyder’s absurd and literal interpretation of the statute is something only a modern Supreme Court would enjoy.”
Snyder is a Republican. Mr. Snyder, the mayor of Portage, Indiana, received $13,000 from a local hauling company after the city bought five garbage trucks from the company for $1.1 million in 2013. Prosecutors later charged Mr. Snyder with making the payments to steer work to the company.
Snyder was charged under a federal bribery statute that makes it a crime for state or local officials to corruptly solicit or accept “anything of value” from another person “with the intent to influence or reward” them in return for official service. Federal authorities argued that the statute also applies to gratuities.
The former mayor, who maintains his innocence, said the payments were for consulting work. A federal jury found Snyder guilty of accepting illegal bribes and he was sentenced to nearly two years in prison.
Snyder appealed his conviction, arguing that the statute used to convict him only applied to bribes given before the act, not gratuities given after the act. The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals upheld Snyder’s conviction, but the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Snyder.
Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh, writing the majority opinion, found that Congress narrowly tailored the specific law to apply to bribery and said lawmakers left it up to state and local authorities to regulate bribery.
Kavanaugh said the administration’s interpretation of the law “fundamentally undermines the gratuity rule” and turns the federal law into “an ambiguous and unfair trap for 19 million state and local government employees.”
Justice Kavanaugh read the opinion to the court, explaining that the government has not made clear how to distinguish harmless gratuities, like a parent giving a teacher an end-of-year gift, from unethical or criminal conduct.
States and localities regulate gratuities in different ways. Some states allow public officials to accept gifts up to a certain threshold, but others prohibit them from accepting gifts for certain activities, such as speaking. Most states make exceptions for gifts from friends and family, travel reimbursement, and ceremonial gifts such as honorary degrees.
Federal law prohibits gratuities to federal employees.
Keith Tillion, Vice President A representative for the Alliance for Justice said the decision was heartbreaking.
“The conservative justices’ ruling that it should be easier for public officials to accept gifts is perhaps the least surprising finding of this term,” Tillion said. The group, which is made up of liberal groups that work on court-related issues, said in a statement: “The courts claim to be concerned about bribery, only to subsequently approve it by authorizing the payment of what are called ‘gratuities.'”
Snyder’s lawyer, Lisa Blatt, declined to comment.
The ruling is the latest from the court to make it harder to prosecute government officials on corruption charges.
In 2020, the Supreme Court overturned the convictions of associates of former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie (R) who were charged with retaliating against political opponents in the scandal known as “Bridgegate,” unanimously ruling that the statute under which the officials were charged required them to pursue money or property, not revenge.
In 2016, the Supreme Court overturned the public corruption conviction of former Virginia Governor Robert F. McDonnell (R), creating higher hurdles for federal prosecutors seeking to bring such charges.
The Supreme Court is also due to rule this term on whether the federal government can prosecute hundreds of participants in the Jan. 6 riot on disruption charges and whether former President Donald Trump can claim immunity in a federal election interference lawsuit.
