Supreme Court Eviscerates “Honest Services” Statute

Posted on June 26, 2010 by Francis Pileggi

In Black v. U.S. and Skilling v. U.S., the United States Supreme Court (SCOTUS) this week struck down key parts of a federal criminal statute known as the "honest services" statute, on which convictions of Enron’s Skilling and Hollinger’s Lord Black were based. Here is scholarly commentary by Prof. Larry Ribstein, who has written extensively on the criminalization of agency costs. (His post also includes links to other commentary.) Prof. Christine Hurt provides further insights here.