Law Commons^™

Private Actors And Public Corruption: Why Courts Should Adopt A Broad Interpretation Of The Hobbs Act, Megan Demarco

Michigan Law Review

Federal prosecutors routinely charge public officials with “extortion under color of official right” under a public-corruption statute called the Hobbs Act. To be prosecuted under the Hobbs Act, a public official must promise official action in return for a bribe or kickback. The public official, however, does not need to have actual authority over that official action. As long as the victim reasonably believed that the public official could deliver or influence government action, the public official violated the Hobbs Act. Private citizens also solicit bribes in return for influencing official action. Yet most courts do not think the Hobbs …

Good Ole Rocky Top: Rocky Top Tennessee, Brian Krumm

Scholarly Works

No abstract provided.

United States V. Esquenazi: Injecting Clarity Or Confusion Into The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, Amy Lynn Soto

University of Miami Inter-American Law Review

The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) was enacted in 1977 to criminalize the bribing of foreign officials in order to obtain or retain business. In recent years, there has been an increase in bribery investigations and prosecutions by the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). This increase in enforcement coexists with an ambiguity regarding the scope of the FCPA.

The scope of the FCPA hinges on the determination of who is a foreign official. The FCPA defines a foreign official as “any officer or employee of a foreign government or any department, agency, or instrumentality thereof, …

Chinese Gift-Giving, Anti-Corruption Law, And The Rule Of Law And Virtue, Mary Szto

Fordham International Law Journal

This Article addresses the question of whether virtuous giftgiving in China can be used in the fight against corruption. Giftgiving, ubiquitous in Chinese familial, business, and official practices, has been under fire by both laws outside and within China.

Voluntary Disclosure Fostering Overenforcement And Overcriminalization Of The Fcpa, Karen E. Woody

Scholarly Articles

Professor Peter Reilly’s article, Incentivizing Corporate America to Eradicate Transnational Bribery Worldwide: Federal Transparency and Voluntary Disclosure Under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, 67 Fla. L. Rev. 1683 (2015), challenges the notion that voluntary disclosure of potential Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) violations to the government is always the best course of action for a company. In a world where whistleblowers can receive a bounty for information provided to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC),2 self-reporting is a critical, high-pressure decision that each company must undertake when faced with potential FCPA liability.

This Article takes a broader look at …

Asset Forfeiture In Public Corruption Cases, Pamela S. Stanek

Center for the Advancement of Public Integrity (Inactive)

This publication is intended to be a practical guide to pursuing federal asset forfeiture where a public corruption crime is the underlying offense. Although the reader of this guide may be pursuing state crimes and forfeiture, reaching out to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the experts in public corruption cases, is recommended. Addressing the laws of all fifty states is beyond the scope of this guide. Nonetheless, the considerations and guidance underlying federal forfeiture will generally apply to the pursuit of state forfeitures as the majority of the state statutes are modeled after the federal statutes and involve similar …

Senator Menendez And The Speech And Debate Clause, Center For The Advancement Of Public Integrity

Center for the Advancement of Public Integrity (Inactive)

Robert “Bob” Menendez is a United States Senator from New Jersey. He was appointed to the Senate in 2006 by newly elected Governor John Corzine to fill Corzine’s vacated seat. Menendez served two years as Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, from 2013 to 2015, and remained that committee’s ranking Democrat until his indictment. He is also a member of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs and the Committee on Finance. Between 1993 and 2006, Menendez represented New Jersey’s 13th district in the United States House of Representatives.

The Conviction Of Congressman Chaka Fattah, Center For The Advancement Of Public Integrity

Center for the Advancement of Public Integrity (Inactive)

Congressman Chaka Fattah has represented Pennsylvania’s 2nd District, which includes parts of Philadelphia, for 20 years.

On June 21, 2016, Congressman Fattah was convicted on all 23 counts of public corruption he faced, including conspiracy to commit racketeering (RICO), bribery, money laundering, and fraud. Fattah’s four co-defendants included his chief of staff as well as a former Philadelphia deputy mayor.

The Trial Of Congressman Chaka Fattah, Center For The Advancement Of Public Integrity

Center for the Advancement of Public Integrity (Inactive)

Congressman Chaka Fattah has represented Pennsylvania’s 2nd District, which includes parts of Philadelphia, for 20 years.

On July 29, 2015, a federal Grand Jury indicted Congressman Fattah on 29 counts, including conspiracy to commit racketeering (RICO), bribery, money laundering, and fraud. The charges encompassed four co-conspirators as well, including Fattah’s chief of staff as well as a former Philadelphia deputy mayor.

Good Ole Rocky Top: Rocky Top Tennessee, Brian Krumm, Liz Natal

College of Law Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

The Appearance And The Reality Of Quid Pro Quo Corruption: An Empirical Investigation, Christopher Robertson, D. Alex Winkelman, Kelly Bergstrand, Darren Modzelewski

Faculty Scholarship

The Supreme Court says that campaign finance regulations are unconstitutional unless they target "quid pro quo" corruption or its appearance. To test those appearances, we fielded two studies. First, in a highly realistic simulation, three grand juries deliberated on charges that a campaign spender bribed a Congressperson. Second, 1271 representative online respondents considered whether to convict, with five variables manipulated randomly. In both studies, jurors found quid pro quo corruption for behaviors they believed to be common. This research suggests that Supreme Court decisions were wrongly decided and that Congress and the states have greater authority to regulate campaign finance. …