Sentences with phrase «federal corruption laws»

But he said the 2016 Supreme Court McDonnell decision narrowing federal corruption laws — and the «difficulty in proving criminal intent in corruption schemes where there is no evidence of personal profit» — made prosecuting inappropriate.

«With the Supreme Court repeatedly limiting the scope of federal corruption law in recent years, we will continue to see outcomes like this.

The trial will also test what remains of federal corruption law after the U.S. Supreme Court weakened it last year.

Justices on both sides of the ideological divide expressed concern about federal corruption laws that could criminalize what they variously called «routine» or «everyday» actions that politicians perform for campaign contributors or supporters who have provided them with gifts.

But in June 2016, the court found that McDonnell's favors for his benefactor — including sending emails, making phone calls and arranging introductions to other government officials — did not amount to «official acts» under federal corruption law.

ALBANY — Prosecutors and legal experts shook their heads last year after the U.S. Supreme Court narrowed federal corruption laws.

McDonnell: The Court's recent decision in McDonnell v. United States further restricted the scope of federal corruption law.

The conviction was overturned in September when a federal appeals court ruled that jury instructions hadn't reflected a later U.S. Supreme Court finding that narrowed federal corruption laws.

But McDonnell was actually only the latest in a series of Supreme Court cases over the last two decades that have dramatically narrowed federal corruption laws.

But last month, the Second U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the convictions, ruling that jury instructions hadn't reflected a later U.S. Supreme Court finding that narrowed federal corruption laws, requiring officials to exercise power instead of just make a phone call or set up a meeting.

McDonnell argued that simply referring a constituent to another state official was not among the «official actions» barred by the federal corruption law.

«For better or for worse, it puts at risk behavior that is common,» said Justice Stephen G. Breyer, who along with Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. suggested that the federal corruption laws are so vague that they might be unconstitutional.

McDonnell was simply the latest in a series of Supreme Court decisions over the past two decades narrowing federal corruption laws.