News & Observer investigative reporter Andy Curliss, in a blog post, points out an important story from The New York Times last week. The U.S. Supreme Court plans to review three cases involving the use by federal prosecutors of honest-services law to pursue corruption charges.
Justice Antonin Scalia has led a chorus of critics of the law, saying it has been abused to convict public officials who may have violated ethical guidelines but did not commit crimes.
Curliss notes that former state lottery commissioner Kevin Geddings, former state Rep. Michael Decker and former U.S. Rep. Frank Ballance all went to prison in part for violating the law, which requires public officials to provide “honest services” to taxpayers and other residents.
He also points out that in the prosecutions of those officials, and the current investigation of former Gov. Mike Easley, additional underlying crimes were either proved (or, in Easley’s case, alleged), so the court’s ruling may have no impact on past or current cases.
It’s also worth noting that two of the cases the Supreme Court is reviewing do not involve government officials. One deals with media mogul Conrad Black; the other, former Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling. It’s easy to see why the courts would be looking at this if a law intended to cover public officials instead ensnared private businessmen.
