Unanimous Supreme Court tosses 'Bridgegate' convictions for Bridget Kelly, Bill Baroni

[malaise]

https://abc7ny.com/bridgegate-bill-baroni-william-chris-christie/6159882/
<snip>
The Supreme Court on Thursday threw out the convictions of two political insiders involved in New Jersey's "Bridgegate" scandal, saying that "not every corrupt act by state or local officials is a federal crime."

The court said in a unanimous decision Thursday that the government had overreached in prosecuting two allies of then-New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Bridget Kelly and Bill Baroni, for their roles in a political payback scheme that created massive traffic jam to punish a Democratic mayor who refused to endorse the Republican's reelection. Kelly was Christie's onetime deputy chief of staff. Baroni was a top Christie appointee to the Port Authority, the operator of the New York area's bridges, tunnels, airports and ports.

Kelly and Baroni were convicted of fraud and conspiracy for scheming in 2013 to change the traffic flow onto the George Washington Bridge between New York City and New Jersey to artificially create gridlock in New Jersey's Fort Lee. The traffic change came after Fort Lee's mayor declined to endorse Christie.
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Christie should be the one in prison

[Igel]

1. But nonetheless, the law they were sentenced under, SCOTUS said--unanimously--doesn't apply.

Kelly and Baroni could not be convicted under those laws because their dishonest scheme was not intended to obtain money or property, Justice Elena Kagan wrote in her opinion for the court.

“Save for bribes or kickbacks (not at issue here), a state or local official’s fraudulent schemes violate [federal fraud] law only when … they are ‘for obtaining money or property,’ ” Kagan wrote.

“The upshot is that federal fraud law leaves much public corruption to the states (or their electorates) to rectify.”

You can't sentence somebody for doing something illegal in order to get money or property if no money or property was at stake. (You'd think a judge would have maybe noticed that the law didn't apply, however much they wanted it to. As a roommate hunter once pointed out in discussing a failed hunt, he "tried to grow antlers" on a young deer so he could shoot it, but he knew that the wildlife agent that might check out his kill and his deer tag wouldn't be impressed by the power of his imagination and he couldn't afford the fine.)

[malaise]

2. Yep

the law is the law