Federal Law of Bribery and Extortion: Expanding Liability (From White Collar Crime: Business and Regulatory Offenses, P 3-1, - 3-34, 1990, Otto G. Obermaier and Robert G. Morvillo, eds. - See NCJ-126261)

• NCJ Number: 126264
• Author(s): K R Feinberg
• Date Published: 1990
• Length: 34 pages
• Sale Source: Seminar Press, Inc
• Publication Type: Survey
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

By broadening the powers in the Hobbs Act, the Travel Act, and Section 201 of the Bribery and Graft Act, the courts have given Federal prosecutors the ability to supercede local prosecutions in the areas of bribery and extortion. However, the increase in Federal liability has often resulted in less effective law enforcement against official corruption.

Abstract

Following legal definitions of bribery and extortion, which are differentiated mainly by the fact that extortion has a victim while both parties in bribery are guilty of a crime, the Federal statutory framework for these two areas is outlined. The major statutes involved are applied to a hypothetical case based on a 1984 Second Circuit Court opinion that disagreed with the trend broadening Federal jurisdictions in these matters. This expanding Federal liability is manifested differently in each statute: Section 201 expands the definition of a "public official," the Hobbs Act blurs the distinction between bribery and extortion, and the court decisions involving the Travel Act have minimized its interstate nexus requirement. The author recommends setting judicial limitations on these open-ended interpretations. 153 notes.