Supreme Court shows how to get away with bribery - murder soon to follow

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Quid pro quo is the Latin for "something for something." It is a reciprocal exchange of goods or services between two more parties that is the foundation of business and capitalism in general.

But it is not acceptable for elected officials.

In fact, it is against the law.

At least, it used to be.

James Snyder was mayor of Portage, Indiana in 2013 when he asked the assistant superintendent of streets to oversee the public bidding process to purchase improved garbage trucks. Portage awarded two contracts to Great Lakes Peterbilt to purchase five garbage  trucks for about $1.1 million. During this time period, Snyder opened a private consulting business and ultimately was paid $13,000 by the truck company after the trucks were purchased.

Prosecutors called it an illegal kickback.

Snyder called it a gratuity for his consulting services.

He was prosecuted for violating a federal law that bars state and local government officials from "corruptly" accepting "anything of value" for an official act.

That's the way I understood the law.

Snyder was forced to resign his position as mayor in 2019 after he was also accused of obstructing the IRS's efforts to collect unpaid taxes on a private mortgage company he ran.

He was convicted and sentenced to 1 year, 9 months in prison.

The appeals court upheld his conviction, but Snyder's prison sentence was delayed pending a last ditch Hail Mary to the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court worst decision makes bribery of public officials legal. You can’t make this stuff up.

But nothing is a long shot with this current Supreme Court.

Justice Brett Kavanaugh, writing for the 6-3 majority, wrote "Gratuities are typically payments made to a public officials after an official act as a reward or token of appreciation. While American law generally treats bribes as inherently corrupt and unlawful, the law's treatment of gratuities is more nuanced."

If ever there was an example of a lawyer being out of touch with the common citizen, this has to be it?

I've never tipped an elected official.

I don't know anyone who has ever tipped a elected official.

It is just not done.

Our taxes take care of that.

But considering recent revelations that several Supreme Court justices have accepted gifts and luxury travel, apparently gratuities are a way of life for not only politicians, but Supreme Court justices.

Not only did the supreme Court rule that Snyder was not guilty of being bribed, but they essentially showed every future corrupt politician how to do it legally.

Considering the backflips Kavanaugh does in his written decision, he should be representing the Olympic gymnastic team in Paris instead of Simone Biles.

One of his arguments is that for bribery to occur an official has to have "a corrupt state of mind."

That seems to be a high bar for the prosecution.

The court further argued that is impossible to figure out the difference tween a corrupt gift and a gratuity. It worried that this discrepancy creates traps for unwary state and local officials.

How about following a simple ethical principle of avoiding even the appearance of impropriety?

The long-range reality is this could make it almost impossible to prosecute corrupt government officials and make lead to even less faith in public officials, if that is possible.

In her dissent, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson showed a little more common sense and called the ruling "absurd" and one only the current court could love.

That was a well-deserved shot at her colleagues.

"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," Jackson wrote.

She concluded, "Ultimately, it appears that the real bone the majority has to pick... is its concern about overregulation" of bribery.

Of all the egregious decisions made by the Supreme Court this term - bump stocks should be legal, it's now legal for coal plants to send pollution across state lines to the Adirondacks, and presidents are above the law - perhaps this was worst of all for the road map it provides for the next generation of criminal public servants.

There should be a special place in hell for public officials who use their position to benefit themselves and a worst place for judges who show them how to get away with it.

Ken Tingley spent more than four decades working in small community newspapers in upstate New York. Since retirement in 2020 he has written three books and is currently adapting his second book "The Last American Newspaper" into a play. He currently lives in Queensbury, N.Y.