US Supreme Court narrows reach of federal corruption law

The U.S. Supreme Court sided on Wednesday with a former mayor of an Indiana city who was convicted in a case in which he was accused of taking a bribe, in a ruling that could make it harder for federal prosecutors to bring corruption cases against state and local officials.

The justices ruled 6-3 to reverse a lower court’s decision that had upheld the corruption conviction of former Portage mayor James Snyder for accepting $13,000 from a truck company that received more than $1 million in contracts during his time in office.

The court’s conservative justices were in the majority in the ruling authored by Justice Brett Kavanaugh, while its liberal members dissented.

Federal prosecutors charged Snyder with corruptly soliciting a payment in connection with the government contracts, a crime that carries a penalty of up to 10 years in prison. A jury convicted him, and a judge sentenced him to one year and nine months in prison.

“The question in this case is whether (federal law) makes it a crime for state and local officials to accept gratuities – for example, gift cards, lunches, plaques, books, framed photos or the like – that may be given as a token of appreciation after the official act,” Kavanaugh wrote.

Kavanaugh wrote in Wednesday’s ruling that the federal corruption law “leaves it to state and local governments to regulate gratuities to publicofficials.”

In a dissent written by Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, the court’s liberal justices expressed concern that the ruling could undermine efforts to combat public corruption.