Monday’s unanimous opinion in McDonnell v. United States has triggered a range of strong reactions. Some have lamented or even excoriated the decision for enabling corruption, while others have celebrated the Court for reining in overzealous prosecutors.  A careful… Continue reading

Brian Galle ponders the question here.

Bob Bauer in WaPo and MSMHL Chris Cillizza in WaPo Amy Davidson in New Yorker David Debold and Hampton Dellinger on SCOTUSblog Democracy 21 Demos Noah Feldman on Bloomberg View William Gray at Issue One Alan Greenblatt in Governing Tim … Continue reading

From p. 14 of the slip opinion: Taking into account the text of the statute, the precedent of this Court, and the constitutional concerns raised by Governor McDonnell, we reject the Government’s reading of §201(a)(3) [the federal bribery statute] … Continue reading

Unanimous according to SCOTUSblog. Opinion here. Chief Justice Roberts writes for the Court.  Rick is working on a quick analysis to be posted soon.

This Politico story started the speculation (which seems completely unjustified), and it features a law professor saying this wouldn’t be a bribe. I think the question is whether it is illegal to pay a candidate to withdraw from a race.… Continue reading