Petition of the day

Thepetition of the day is:

Issues:(1) Whether, when the government prosecutes a public official for soliciting campaign contributions in an alleged violation of the Hobbs Act or other federal anticorruption laws, the government must prove the defendant made an explicit promise or undertaking in exchange for the contribution perMcCormick v. United States, as five circuits require, or only . . . that a public official has obtained a payment . . . knowing that [it] was made in return for official acts perEvans v. United States, as three other circuits hold; and (2) whether a district court may decline to address a defendants nonfrivolous argument that a shorter sentence is necessary to avoid unwarranted sentence disparities, 18 U.S.C. 3553(a)(6), so long as it issues a sentence within the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, as the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the 7th and 10th Circuits hold, in conflict with the law of the majority of circuits.