James L. Hamlin v. The United States

It seems quite apparent to me that in the enactment of 18 U.S.C., Sec. 202, quoted in the court’s opinion, the Congress did not intend that anyone should forfeit his office or place, or be disqualified from holding any office of honor, trust or profit, unless such person was guilty of the offense of bribery, therein defined. Nevertheless, from the holding of this court in McMullen v. United States, 100 Ct.Cl. 323 (1943), cert. denied 321 U.S. 790, 64 S.Ct. 786, 88 L.Ed. 1080 (1944), a strange doctrine has come down to us that under certain circumstances persons completely innocent of the…