Kickback case looms for former Dick's VP

[Bravo Zulu]

Several of the charges related to the alleged kickbacks are based on a 1988 change in federal criminal law that targeted corrupt public officials. Critics contend the provision gives prosecutors wide latitude to bring charges when executives, public officials and others fail to provide "honest services" to their companies or constituents. Among others, the law has been used to prosecute former Enron CEO Jeffrey K. Skilling and other high-profile executives, lobbyist Jack Abramoff and former U.S. Rep. Robert W. Ney, of Ohio.

Defense attorneys say the 1988 provision is too broad. Their criticisms have found a sympathetic ear among some U.S. Supreme Court justices.

"The statute has been invoked to impose criminal penalties upon a staggeringly broad swath of behavior," Justice Antonin Scalia wrote in an opinion this year. He said that if carried to its logical conclusion, the law would make it a crime for a mayor to use his influence to get a table at a restaurant without a reservation.

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09312/1011755-455.stm?cmpid=MOSTEMAILEDBOX#ixzz0WKPqkeNX

[Demeter]

1. There's Been a Staggering Wide Swath of Corruption

starting with Scalia's term on the court and the "selection".