Kelly v. United States

Kelly v. United States
Supreme Court of the United States
Argued January 14, 2020
Decided May 7, 2020
Full case nameBridget Anne Kelly, Petitioner v. United States
Docket no.18–1059
Citations590 U.S. ___ (more)
140 S. Ct. 1565
ArgumentOral argument
DecisionOpinion
Case history
Prior
  • Motions to dismiss denied, United States v. Baroni, No. 2:15-CR-00193, 2016 WL 3388302 (D.N.J. June 13, 2016)
  • Motions for judgment of acquittal and for new trial denied, United States v. Baroni, No. 2:15-CR-00193, 2017 WL 787122 (D.N.J. Mar. 1, 2017)
  • Affirmed in part, vacated in part, and remanded, 909 F.3d 550 (3d Cir. 2018)
  • Cert. granted sub. nom. Kelly v. United States, 139 S. Ct. 2777 (2019)
Holding
Because the scheme here did not aim to obtain money or property, Baroni and Kelly could not have violated the federal-program fraud or wire fraud laws.
Court membership
Chief Justice
John Roberts
Associate Justices
Clarence Thomas · Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Stephen Breyer · Samuel Alito
Sonia Sotomayor · Elena Kagan
Neil Gorsuch · Brett Kavanaugh
Case opinion
MajorityKagan, joined by unanimous

Kelly v. United States, 590 U.S. ___ (2020), was a United States Supreme Court case involving the 2013 Fort Lee lane closure scandal, also known as "Bridgegate". The case centered on whether Bridget Anne Kelly, the chief of staff to New Jersey Governor Chris Christie who was running for reelection at the time, and Bill Baroni, the Deputy Executive Director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, improperly used lane closures on the George Washington Bridge to create traffic jams as a means of retaliation against Mark Sokolich, the mayor of Fort Lee, New Jersey, when he refused to support Christie's reelection campaign. While lower courts had convicted Kelly and Baroni on federal fraud, wire fraud and conspiracy charges, the Supreme Court unanimously overturned the convictions in its May 2020 ruling, stating that such charges could not apply as "the scheme here did not aim to obtain money or property", and remanded their cases back to the lower courts.[1]

  1. ^ Kelly v. United States, No. 18-1059, 590 U.S. ___ (2020).