Brief filed: 09/05/2023
Documents
Snyder v. United States
United States Supreme Court; Case No. 23-108
Prior Decision
On Petition for a Writ of Certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.
Argument(s)
The petition presents an exceptionally important question on which the circuits are irreconcilably divided. Despite its moniker as the “federal program bribery provision,” 18 U.S.C. § 666 paradoxically does not require proof of a connection to any federal funds. And in most circuits, it does not even require proof of bribery. Instead, as the petition explains, the Seventh Circuit and four other circuits read section 666 to criminalize not only quid pro quo bribes, but also the payment of any after-the-fact gratuity, if that payment was made in recognition of actions already taken—even if the official did not agree to act in exchange for the payment. That reading is wrong as a textual and structural matter. And it has serious and far-reaching consequences for state and local government employees and their constituents.
Author(s)
Samir Deger-Sen, Nicolas Luongo, Latham & Watkins LLP, New York, NY; Brent T. Murphy, Anne Nicole Thoron, Latham & Watkins LLP, Washington, DC.
