| Kelly v. United States | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Argued January 14, 2020 Decided May 7, 2020 | |
| Full case name | Bridget Anne Kelly, Petitioner v. United States |
| Docket no. | 18–1059 |
| Citations | 590 U.S. ___ (more) 140 S. Ct. 1565 |
| Argument | Oral argument |
| Decision | Opinion |
| Case history | |
| Prior |
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| 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 | |
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| Case opinion | |
| Majority | Kagan, 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]