The honest services statute—used by prosecutors in the cases of Jack Abramoff, Rod Blagojevich and Jeffrey Skilling—requires that public and corporate officials act in the best interests of their constituents or employers. Last term, the Supreme Court heard three cases dealing with honest services fraud, and in doing so, the Court confined the statute to the offenses of bribery and kickbacks, discarding conflicts of interest and breaches of fiduciary duty. In a Federalist Society-sponsored discussion on March 14 featuring John Elwood, Ronald Safer, Brian Murray, and Gil Soffer, the panel examined what remains of honest services fraud and looked at the federalism implications of such prosecutions.

[audio:http://rightoncrime.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/HonestServices-3-9-11.mp3]