Skilling v. United States: U.S. Supreme Court Ruling Clarifies the Scope of the Honest Services Statute

On June 24, 2010, the Supreme Court vacated three circuit court decisions and held that 18 U.S.C. §1346, commonly referred to as the honest services statute, criminalizes only bribery and kickback schemes. The Court's ruling clarified the scope of the honest services statute, which previously had been undefined and subject to various interpretations by the lower courts since it was passed by Congress as an attempt to supersede McNally v. United States.