My 2302s will start discussing the judiciary soon, and this will among the recent decisions we will cover:
From Slatest:
Supreme Court Deals Blow to "Honest Services" Law
The Supreme Court sided with former Enron CEO and smartest-guy-in-the-room Jeffrey Skilling and media mogul Conrad Black on Thursday by ruling against a fraud law commonly used to go after white-collar criminals. The "honest services" law, which the Court determined to be excessively vague, allows prosecutors to file suit against executives who don't act in companies' best interests. The law was critical in targeting former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich (whose own trial has been keeping Chicagoans entertained since June 3), lobbyist Jack Abramoff (now employed at a kosher Baltimore pizzeria) and former New York State Senate majority leader, Joseph Bruno, who was indicted last January. Now, there's concern that today's ruling could overturn convictions and make it harder to file fraud cases. Writing for the majority, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg ruled that Skilling's "honest services" conviction was flawed (he's serving a 24-year sentence for duping investors about Enron's financial health) and that the law should only be limited to "schemes involving bribery and kickbacks." The Court also challenged the conviction of Conrad Black, who was sentenced to 6 ½ years in prison in 2007 for allegedly stealing millions from the Hollinger International Inc. media company through insider dealings. Both cases will be sent back to appeals court, but the ruling won't necessarily overturn their convictions. Despite the victory over "honest services," the Supreme Court disagreed with the second part of Skilling's argument—that bad media coverage had prevented him from getting a fair trial in Enron's home city of Houston.
The Wall Street Journal Thursday, June 24, 2010
As with the decision to overrule the drilling ban, the key seems to be an overly broad, excessively vague law which allows for too much arbitrary and capricious activity by prosecutors.
- SCOTUSblog » “Honest services” law pared down
- Honest services fraud - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
