The ruling is hilarious. An Indiana mayor awarded a $1.1 million dollar contract to a truck dealership, then went to the dealership afterwards and said "I need money." He asked for $15k in cash, and was given $13k.
According to the SCOTUS this is not bribery because a bribe is an award for pre-agreed actions that is quid pro quo, and maybe the dealer just happened to feel generous to the person responsible for awarding them a lucrative contract after the fact. Only money in burlap sacks with dollar bills on them, with a person handing it over with a contract saying "this is a bribe" count as a bribe. Anything else is just a sparkling gratuity.
Looks like the bribe laundering industry lobbyists didn't give the right people enough perfectly legal gifts.
lol, maybe using "strongly rooted in our history and culture" is not really the best metric for determining legality
I'll give them this: anti-meritocracy and corruption is very much in line with Amerikkkan culture. EVERYTHING in this stupid country is a goddamn good 'ol boys club.
There's two ways to stop corruption: one involves identifying corrupt officials and punishing them. The enlightened, neoliberal solution is to simply make the law say it's legal to be corrupt.
Real "it's only bribery if it's from the Bribery Coast region" hours
This is the true American democracy. Meanwhile, in a rogue country without the rule of law:
https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3264499/china-hands-death-sentence-senior-banker-taking-us151-million-bribes
Vietnam and China are red fash for executing people who steal the wealth of citizens. You see, under a real democracy, true freedom is simply complaining about problem. Actually enforcing rules is reserved for the poor, otherwise it’s authoritarianism.
Soon the only way somebody can be prosecuted for bribery in the US is if they do this in public and there's a photo or video.
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Edit
Hexbear hosted images are fucky.
https://i.imgur.com/GagIGXJ.jpeg
no, you need also written and signed statement that in exchange for goods and services provided you will do x.
this is just campaign contribution already
in order for it to be bribery, one of those hands needs to be black
I can't believe how pissed off this stuff still makes me. They're morons that dress up in black robes so people will take their arbitrary pronouncements seriously.
Girlbossing in my dissent collar down in hell with Thatcher
It's not corruption if it is all perfectly legal after all. If you plebians don't like it, just vote with your wallets!
Gotta get a Swiss army wallet. Comes with a knife, a can opener, and a rocket launcher.
“The question in this case is whether [the federal law] also 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. The answer is no,” said Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh, writing for the majority.
Despite his reference to token gifts such as lunches and framed photos, the federal law was triggered only by payments of more than $5,000.
yeah, or the like here means a 1.2% finder's fee on a million dollar contract explicitly solicited by a city mayor, but it happened after the contract was already awarded, so that's just the cost of doing business, i guess
Wait does this mean I can start bribing my local corrupt officials and it’s ok if I just pay them afterwards? Cool!
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAHAHAHA
HAHAHHAHAH AHAHHAHHAHAHAHHA
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAH HAHAHAH
this is the bribery equivilant of "im going to put the drugs on the hood of the car, turn my head away"
"im going to put my money on the hood, turn my head away"
oh look both things are gone now, we go in separate directions
civil code pls