Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/23pdf/23-108_8n5a.pdf
Page Number: 20.0

16 

SNYDER v. UNITED STATES 

Opinion of the Court 

commonly  writes 
including  bribery
federal  statutes, 
statutes, in such a belt and suspenders manner.  Here, the 
term “rewarded” does not transform §666 into a gratuities 
statute. 

In  sum,  §666  tracks  §201(b),  the  bribery  provision
for federal officials.  A state or local official can violate §666 
when he accepts an up-front payment for a future official 
act or agrees to a future reward for a future official act.  See 
United States v. Fernandez, 722 F. 3d 1, 23 (CA1 2013) (the 
word  “reward”  “clarifies  that  a  bribe  can  be  promised
before, but paid after, the official’s action” (quotation marks 
omitted)).  But a state or local official does not violate §666 
if the official has taken the official act before any reward is
agreed to, much less given.  Although a gratuity offered and
accepted  after  the  official  act  may  be  unethical  or  illegal 
under other federal, state, or local laws, the gratuity does
not violate §666.  

* 

* 
* 
this  Court 

The  Government  asks 

to  adopt  an 
interpretation of §666 that would radically upend gratuities
rules  and  turn  §666  into  a  vague  and  unfair  trap  for  19
million state and local officials.  We decline to do so.  Section 
666 is a vital statute, but its focus is targeted:  Section 666 
proscribes bribes to state and local officials, while allowing 
state and local governments to regulate gratuities to state
and local officials.  Within constitutional bounds, Congress
can always change the law if it wishes to do so.  But since 
1986, it has not, presumably because Congress understands 
that state and local governments may and often do regulate
gratuities  to  state  and  local  officials.  We  reverse  the 
judgment  of  the  U. S.  Court  of  Appeals  for  the  Seventh
Circuit  and  remand  the  case  for  further  proceedings
consistent with this opinion. 

It is so ordered.