Supreme Court's Impact on Corruption Convictions.

The Supreme Court has unanimously vacated the convictions of two men found guilty of violating federal laws against fraud, striking another blow against prosecutors' efforts to bring federal charges against self-dealing politicians. The court believes that federal anti-corruption laws are too broad and need to be narrowed to cover a limited subset of explicit corruption, such as bribery, extortion, or an exchange of actual property or money in return for a government favor. This decision reflects the court's increasingly cramped view of what counts as bribery and fraud, which is not good for the judiciary or democracy.