Gov't Use Of Travel Act To Charge Corruption Might Backfire

By Elizabeth Capel and Brandon Fox (November 13, 2017, 9:36 AM EST) -- In the last several years, the U.S. Supreme Court has drastically reduced the ability of prosecutors to use federal corruption statutes in a broad manner. Its decisions, first limiting the scope of honest services fraud in Skilling v. U.S. to only include bribery and kickbacks, and then restricting the types of "official acts" that can be part of a quid pro quo arrangement in McDonnell v. U.S., has upended convictions of high-ranking public officials across the country. Prosecutors are now limited in their ability to use federal extortion, bribery and fraud statutes to investigate and charge what used to be run-of-the mill corruption cases. Because the Supreme Court has raised issues with the constitutionality of the federal statutes if they were interpreted more broadly, a legislative fix may be unlikely without more clarity from the court....

Law360 is on it, so you are, too.

A Law360 subscription puts you at the center of fast-moving legal issues, trends and developments so you can act with speed and confidence. Over 200 articles are published daily across more than 60 topics, industries, practice areas and jurisdictions.


A Law360 subscription includes features such as

  • Daily newsletters
  • Expert analysis
  • Mobile app
  • Advanced search
  • Judge information
  • Real-time alerts
  • 450K+ searchable archived articles

And more!

Experience Law360 today with a free 7-day trial.

Start Free Trial

Already a subscriber? Click here to login

Hello! I'm Law360's automated support bot.

How can I help you today?

For example, you can type:
  • I forgot my password
  • I took a free trial but didn't get a verification email
  • How do I sign up for a newsletter?
Ask a question!