Supreme Court overturns ex-mayor’s bribery conviction, narrowing the scope of public corruption law

Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court has overturned the bribery conviction of a former Indiana mayor, the latest in a series of decisions narrowing the scope of federal public corruption law. The high court decided the law criminalizes bribes given before an official act, not rewards handed out after. Wednesday’s 6-3 decision along ideological lines continues a pattern in recent years of the court restricting the government’s ability to use broad federal laws to prosecute public corruption cases. The decision overturns the conviction of James Snyder, a Republican who was convicted of taking $13,000 from a trucking company after prosecutors said he steered $1 million worth of city contracts the company’s way. Snyder says he’s innocent.