In yesterday’s Capitol Fax, I complained that the press was ignoring two recent court cases that may very well impact the US Attorney’s ongoing corruption investigations and appeals of past convictions.

One of the cases involved a woman named Georgia Thompson, who was in charge of finding a new travel agent for Wisconsin’s state government. The 7th Circuit (which also covers the Chicago area) ordered Thompson’s release, declared her “innocent” and issued a scathing opinion about how she had been railroaded.

I didn’t realize it at the time, but oral briefs were scheduled yesterday in the 7th Circuit appeals case of Mayor Daley’s former patronage chief Robert Sorich and three co-defendants. The Thompson case came up during arguments and the Tribune and Sun-Times both have pretty decent stories today about the back-and-forth between the two sides.

* Tribune…

A new federal court case — decided less than two weeks ago — shows that public officials who dole out jobs based on political clout are not guilty of a crime unless they also take bribes or kickbacks, lawyers for former top aides to Mayor Richard Daley argued before an appeals court Tuesday.

Lawyers for former Daley patronage chief Robert Sorich seized on the recent case out of Wisconsin as they fought to overturn their clients’ convictions last year for rigging hiring and promotions at City Hall.

In exchange for their alleged roles in the scheme, Sorich and others may have enjoyed promotions, pay raises or added job security, said John Cline, Sorich’s attorney.

But the new case “says pretty categorically that that type of gain doesn’t count,” said Cline, arguing to a three-judge panel of the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago

* Sun-Times…

Charges against Sorich shouldn’t hold up because, like Thompson, Sorich didn’t get kickbacks or gain personally through the scheme, his lawyer, John Cline, argued. “But in the Thompson case, a lot of the behavior she engaged in could be considered innocent,” Judge Ann Claire Williams said. “Here we have a situation where a patronage scheme involved lies, false entries and cover up.”

Slattery lawyer Patrick Blegen said similar allegations were lodged against Thompson, including rigging test scores and basing decisions on “political non-merit reasons.”

“That’s essentially the same allegations they made against Mr. Slattery,” Blegen said.

But [Assistant U.S. Attorney Barry Miller] drew distinctions between Sorich and Thompson. He said she didn’t necessarily know the governor benefited from her actions. Meanwhile: “Here, there was overwhelming evidence that these defendants intended to commit fraud and to divert resources for political purposes and other purposes for other beneficiaries,” he said.

* Here are some quotes from the surprisingly strong Thompson appellate decision that I told subscribers about yesterday…

* “The idea that it is a federal crime for any official in state or local government to take account of political considerations when deciding how to spend public money is preposterous.”

* “An error - even a deliberate one, in which the employee winks at the rules in order to help out someone he believes deserving but barely over the eligibility threshold - is a civil rather than a criminal transgression.”

* “But these [previous court] decisions do not say that the Constitution forbids all politically motivated contracting practices.”

* “Once again that approach has the potential to turn violations of state rules into federal crimes.”

* “Treating an incorrect application of state procurement law as a ‘misuse of office’ and [an employee pay] raise as a ‘private gain’ would land us back in the soup - once again, simple violations of administrative rules would become crimes.”

* You can read the Thompson decision here [.pdf file]. Another case almost completely ignored by the media - and Patrick Fitzgerald first real setback in Illinois - was the complete dismissal of all charges against Nick Hurtgen. That decision is here. Fitzgerald’s motion to reconsider is here. The original criminal complaint against Sorich is here.

Listen to yesterday’s oral arguments below…

[That may not work for you, if not, you can go here and listen to the arguments instead.]

Thoughts?

*** UPDATE *** You can listen to the oral arguments in the Thompson appeal below…