Kelly v. United States

140 S.Ct. 1565 (2020)

Purchase the Printed Copy at bsmsphd.com

Nature of the Case

To access this section all you need to do is click here and register.

Facts

Traffic ground to a halt in Fort Lee, New Jersey from an unannounced realignment of 12 toll lanes leading to the George Washington Bridge, an entryway into Manhattan administered by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. Three of those access lanes had been reserved during morning rush hour for commuters coming from the streets of Fort Lee. For four days, only a single lane was set aside. The public officials who ordered that change claimed they were reducing the number of dedicated lanes to conduct a traffic study. Ds decided to punish the mayor of Fort Lee for refusing to support the New Jersey Governor’s reelection bid. P charged the two clowns, Ds, under the federal statutes prohibiting wire fraud and fraud on a federally funded program or entity. Baroni, Kelly, and Wildstein all lost their jobs. Wildstein pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges and agreed to cooperate with P. Ds went to trial on charges of wire fraud, fraud on a federally funded program or entity (the Port Authority), and conspiracy to commit each of those crimes. The jury found them guilty on all counts. The Court of Appeals affirmed. The Supreme Court granted certiorari.