official-act
19 cases — ← All topics
| Case | Title | Lower Court | Docketed | Status | Flags | Tags | Question Presented |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25-757 | Matthew Borges v. United States | Sixth Circuit | 2025-12-29 | Pending | Response RequestedResponse Waived | bribery campaign-finance first-amendment official-act political-contribution quid-pro-quo | When alleged bribery rests solely on lawful campaign contributions, must the government prove an explicit, unambiguous quid pro quo conditioning an of… |
| 25-528 | David Paitsel v. United States | District of Columbia | 2025-10-31 | Denied | Amici (1)Response Waived | bribery circuit-court due-process judicial-precedent official-act prosecutorial-standards | Did the D.C. Circuit err in its interpretation of McDonnell v. United States regarding prosecutorial standards in bribery cases? |
| 25-306 | Thomas F. Spellissy v. United States | Eleventh Circuit | 2025-09-16 | Denied | Response Waived | bribery conspiracy government-position honest-services-fraud official-act private-contractor | Whether a private contractor who holds no formal government position and lacks inherent governmental responsibility, can be convicted of conspiracy to… |
| 25-49 | Alexander Sittenfeld aka P. G. Sittenfeld v. United States | Sixth Circuit | 2025-07-15 | Pending | Amici (12)Relisted (5) | bribery campaign-finance first-amendment official-act political-contribution quid-pro-quo | Whether a defendant may be convicted of bribery based on ambiguous evidence of campaign contributions without an explicit quid pro quo agreement |
| 25A42 | Edward Mangano v. United States | Second Circuit | 2025-07-10 | Presumed Complete | agency-relationship criminal-liability fiduciary-duty honest-services-fraud official-act public-official | Whether a public official can be criminally liable for honest services fraud when lacking a formal agency or fiduciary relationship with the governmen… | |
| 24-7376 | Yu Hin Chan v. Honorable Joy F. Campanelli, et al. | Second Circuit | 2025-06-06 | Denied | IFP | court-documents due-process ex-parte-communication immunity legal-ethics official-act | Whether Joy F. Campanelli's forging of court documents and ex parte communications constitute official acts and violate due process rights |
| 24-6671 | Isaac Doyle Koch v. Iowa | Iowa | 2025-02-27 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | criminal-procedure due-process law-enforcement official-act resistance statutory-interpretation | What is the difference between interfering with an official act and refusing an official crime? What is the effect, when statute disallows all physica… |
| 24-5480 | Robert James McCabe v. United States | Fourth Circuit | 2024-09-06 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | bribery-statute campaign-contributions corrupt-intent nexus-requirement official-act statutory-interpretation | Whether the federal bribery statute, 18 U.S.C. § 201(b), through its use of the term 'in return for' requires some nexus or correlation between the un… |
| 23-7754 | Alejandro Carrasco v. United States | First Circuit | 2024-06-18 | Denied | Response RequestedResponse WaivedRelisted (2)IFP | bribery circuit-split federal-bribery government-agent official-act public-corruption quid-pro-quo statutory-interpretation | Does an external consultant qualify as a government agent under 18-usc-666 |
| 23A908 | Alejandro Carrasco v. United States | First Circuit | 2024-04-10 | Presumed Complete | anti-corruption-law federal-bribery municipal-contract official-act public-official statutory-interpretation | Whether a private attorney under contract with a municipality can be considered a 'public official' for purposes of federal bribery statutes under 18 … | |
| 23-845 | Timothy Ray Vasquez v. United States | Fifth Circuit | 2024-02-06 | Denied | Response Waived | bribery criminal-procedure due-process honest-services-fraud official-act public-official quid-pro-quo quid-pro-quo-bribery statutory-interpretation | Does quid pro quo bribery permit conviction for honest services fraud if a public official received a benefit in exchange for a potential future offic… |
| 20-1131 | James C. Dimora v. United States | Sixth Circuit | 2021-02-17 | Denied | Response Waived | bribery conviction criminal-conviction due-process jury-instruction jury-instructions lawful-conduct legal-error official-act statutory-interpretation | Whether a McDonnell error can invalidate convictions on additional counts that do not have an 'official act' element but depend on the jury's assessme… |
| 20-5131 | Michael Kimbrew v. United States | Ninth Circuit | 2020-07-23 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | bribery-of-public-official bribery-statute commercial-bribery due-process federal-employee ninth-circuit-interpretation official-act public-official quid-pro-quo statutory-interpretation sun-diamond | Is Kimbrew's expansive reading of § 201 unconstitutional? |
| 19-1145 | Ng Lap Seng v. United States | Second Circuit | 2020-03-18 | Denied | bribery bribery-of-foreign-officials criminal-prosecution foreign-corrupt-practices-act international-organizations mcdonnell-v-united-states official-act quasi-sovereign-public-international-entities statutory-interpretation united-nations | Whether the generic term 'organization' in §666 should be construed to include quasi-sovereign public international entities like the United Nations | |
| 19-1000 | Heon-Cheol Chi v. United States | Ninth Circuit | 2020-02-10 | Denied | bribery corrupt-intent criminal-intent foreign-bribery intent-to-influence mcdonnell-v-united-states money-laundering official-act public-official statutory-interpretation | Whether 'an offense against a foreign nation involving .. . bribery of a public official' under 18 U.S.C. § 1956(c)(7)(B) requires generic bribery of … | |
| 19-594 | Mahmoud Thiam v. United States | Second Circuit | 2019-11-06 | Denied | Response Waived | american-constitutional-limitations american-court constitutional-limitations criminal-procedure criminal-prosecution due-process foreign-statute official-act predicate-offense predicate-prosecution vagueness-doctrine | Where a foreign statute is used as a predicate for prosecution in an American court, must that statute be construed in accordance with American consti… |
| 19-6076 | Tamela M. Lee v. United States | Sixth Circuit | 2019-09-26 | Denied | IFP | constituent-contacts constitutional-limits criminal-conviction federal-officials government-contact hobbs-act honest-services mcdonnell-v-united-states municipal-officials official-act | Can a county official be convicted of Honest Services and Hobbs Act violations for contacting federal and municipal officials on behalf of constituent… |
| 19-5464 | Mark A. Ciavarella, Jr. v. United States | Third Circuit | 2019-08-05 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | effective-assistance-of-counsel honest-services-mail-fraud ineffective-assistance jury-instructions mail-fraud mcdonnell-v-united-states official-act procedural-default statute-of-limitations | Whether Petitioner was denied effective assistance of counsel as a result of the deprivation of a viable statute of limitations defense with respect t… |
| 18-8935 | Scott B. Miserendino, Sr. v. United States | Fourth Circuit | 2019-04-23 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | administrative-law bribery-conviction buck-v-davis certificate-of-appealability civil-procedure civil-rights due-process federal-jurisdiction mcdonnell-v-united-states official-act question-not-identified section-2255-petition standing takings | Whether the lower court erred in dismissing petitioner's claims for lack of standing and failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted |