Lifting the Fog Over Lobbying Compliance - updated with impact of COVID-19 on NYS lobbying community
[WEBINAR] "Walking the Line" - Public Agencies', Officials' and Employees' Roles in Local Elections
[WEBINAR] Who Does What? Defining Proper Roles for Staff and Elected Officials
Bribery & Corruption in the Military. A Front-Line View (Part II)
Ethics Laws and the Importance of Transparency for Public Officials
Blogging for Lawyers
Per recent updates to various sections of Ohio law, all employees and elected officials of public entities in Ohio are required to report alleged fraud, theft in office, or misuse or misappropriation of public money....more
In 2012 and 2013, while James Snyder was the mayor of Portage, Indiana, the city purchased garbage trucks from local trucking company Great Lakes Peterbilt for roughly $1.1 million....more
On June 26, 2024, the Supreme Court of the United States released its opinion in Snyder v. United States, holding that 18 U.S.C. §666, relating to theft or bribery concerning programs receiving federal funds, forbids bribes...more
In a pair of rulings issued near the end of the last Term, Fischer v. United States and Snyder v. United States, the Supreme Court continued to cut back on the Justice Department’s interpretation and enforcement of criminal...more
On Wednesday, June 26, 2024, the Supreme Court ruled that the federal anti-bribery statute does not make it a crime for state and local officials to accept a gratuity for acts taken in the past....more
On June 26, 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court issued an opinion in a public corruption case that could have a lasting impact on how the U.S. Government prosecutes corruption and procurement fraud cases involving state and local...more
Readers of prior Firm client alerts in the white-collar criminal space will no doubt recall the Supreme Court's recent trend of scaling back the powers of the Department of Justice (DOJ) in prosecuting public corruption...more
In Snyder v. United States, the Supreme Court of the United States held that it is not a federal crime for state and local officials to accept gratuities under 18 U.S.C. § 666. In so doing, the Court overturned the decision...more
On June 26, 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court found that the main federal anti-corruption statute proscribing bribes to state and local officials does not criminalize gratuities, which the Court described as “payments made to an...more
The US Supreme Court’s June 26 ruling in Snyder v. United States clarified that the primary federal law regulating state and local corruption, 18 USC § 666, does not bar state and local officials from accepting...more
Last month, in Snyder v. United States, the Supreme Court of the United States narrowly construed the federal anti-bribery statute. In that case, the mayor of Portage, Indiana worked with other officials to carefully prepare...more
In the latest example of the Roberts court reining in the government’s use of broadly worded criminal statutes, on June 26, 2024, the Supreme Court ruled in United States v. Snyder that the federal bribery statute does not...more
The Supreme Court started yesterday with 14 decisions yet to deliver and only reduced the number by two—neither of them the Trump immunity case nor the Loper case concerning the future of the agency deference doctrine of...more
On June 26, 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court decided Snyder v. United States, No. 23-108, holding that federal statute 18 U. S. C. § 666, which makes it a crime for most state and local officials to “corruptly” solicit, accept,...more
FCA Issues Reminders on Annual Reporting and LTIP Disclosure Requirements - On 22 May 2024, the FCA published Primary Market Bulletin 49 (PMB 49) reminding listed companies of certain continuing obligations under the...more
Lindke v. Freed, 2024 U.S. LEXIS 1214 (2024) (A public official who blocks someone from commenting on the official’s social-media page engages in state action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 only if the official both 1) possessed...more
En réponse aux préoccupations soulevées par l’ingérence étrangère dans les élections canadiennes, lesquelles ont fait couler beaucoup d’encre, le ministre de la Sécurité publique du Canada a présenté le projet de loi C-70,...more
The sentencing of Romy Andrianarisoa, the first ever foreign public official to be convicted under the Bribery Act 2010, provides important takeaways. On 10 May 2024, Romy Andrianarisoa was sentenced to three-and-a-half...more
Who would have thought politicians can work for tips? Well, that is what Portage, Indiana Mayor Jim Snyder argued (more or less) before the Supreme Court last month, when he sought to overturn his conviction under 18 U.S.C. §...more
I have been blocked by 3 of the sitting 7 members of my local board of education on social media because it’s my opinion that they’re doing a bad job. Imagine that, a publicly elected official with such fragile egos, can’t...more
On March 15, 2024, the United States Supreme Court issued a much-awaited decision on two cases that now create guardrails on when government officials can and cannot block private citizens from social media accounts....more
There are about 20 million state and local government employees across the United States. Many of them use social media for personal reasons or for official communications. ...more
There is not a public servant, employee, or trustee who doesn’t have a war story regarding an unruly public meeting or hearing gone wild. Perhaps it was just a quirky public comment. Maybe it’s a viral comment from a public...more
On March 15, 2024, the United States Supreme Court handed down its decisions in Lindke v. Freed and O’Connor-Ratcliff v. Garnier, two similar cases which broadly asked when public officials may be liable for their use of...more
On March 15, 2024, the Supreme Court of the United States issued decisions in Lindke v. Freed and Garnier v. O’Connor-Ratcliff, two cases which involved when public officials can block social media followers and delete their...more