The Supreme Court stabs the people in the back again and rules in favor of Enron

[Catherina]

There is a law in the country that makes it a crime to deprive the public or one’s employer or shareholders of the "intangible right of honest services". The Supreme Court just ruled that we have no such right.

High court dilutes impact of anti-fraud law that got city pols

The U.S. Supreme Court yesterday curtailed prosecutors' use of an anti-fraud law that was central in convicting politicians, including former city Treasurer Corey Kemp, and corporate executives.

The justices voted 6-3 to keep the law on "honest services" fraud in force, even as they joined unanimously in weakening it, and left it to a lower court to decide whether the convictions of Jeffrey Skilling, the former Enron boss, and Conrad Black, the former newspaper owner, should be overturned.

The honest-services law has been criticized by defense attorneys as the last resort of prosecutors in corruption cases that lack the evidence to prove that money is changing hands.

It also has been called vague, subjecting people to prosecution for mistakes and minor transgressions in the business and political worlds. But watchdogs consider it key to fighting white-collar and public fraud.

...

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/pennsylvania/97137384.html?cmpid=15585797

...

The high court, acting on a case brought by former Enron Chief Jeffrey Skilling, ruled Thursday that the law that made it illegal for corporate officers and public officials to deprive shareholders and taxpayers of "honest services" is too vague and that bribes or kickbacks must take place for honest-services fraud to be a crime.

Federal prosecutors, anticipating the ruling, retooled Blagojevich's indictment in February to make sure their allegations that Blagojevich used state government to line his own pockets would be charged under multiple criminal laws, not mainly honest-services fraud. In the spring, they drew up a similar amended indictment for former Chicago Streets and Sanitation Commissioner Al Sanchez, whose retrial on charges that he rigged city jobs is to begin next week.

...

What's more, with the Supreme Court ruling, federal prosecutors in Chicago who often have used the honest-services fraud law will see one of their favorite tools to go after public corruption significantly scaled back.

Timothy P. O'Toole, a lawyer in Washington for the firm Miller & Chevalier, summed up the ruling this way: "The days when a creative prosecutor could indict private individuals and/or public officials based on any sort of dishonest conduct are now largely gone."

Over time, the honest-services law had become a key tool to send public officials to prison even when they didn't personally profit from crimes. An example is Robert Sorich, a former top aide to Mayor Daley who was convicted in 2006 of rigging city hiring by steering jobs to candidates with political clout.

...

http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/2431394,CST-NWS-honest25.article

So manipulating stock markets to make options more valuable isn't lining your own pockets and is ok according to the court? Just dandy.