[2] In light of the Court's findings, U.S. District Judge T. S. Ellis III of Virginia dropped seven of 10 charges for which former Representative William J. Jefferson of New Orleans was convicted in 2012.

The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit unanimously affirmed the convictions of the McDonnells.

The ruling narrowed the legal definition of public corruption and made it harder for prosecutors to prove that a political official engaged in bribery.

[6] According to Bloomberg News, the ruling "appears to have opened the floodgates for reversals of high-profile public corruption cases, including William Jefferson, a former Louisiana congressman.

"[5] The ruling in the Supreme Court case was cited by United States District Court for the District of New Jersey as potential grounds for dismissing the 2017 bribery charges in another federal case against United States Senator Bob Menendez of New Jersey.