The Honest-Services Doctrine in White-Collar Criminal Law

Abstract:     
In June 2010, the United States Supreme Court handed down a highly anticipated trilogy of decisions that altered white-collar criminal law by restricting the honest-services provision, 18 U.S.C. § 1346, to bribes and kickbacks. This development is the most recent one in the tumultuous existence of the honest-services doctrine, which has been characterized by great debate among commentators, federal courts, and Congress. The newest questions prompted by the Court’s recent trilogy of cases implicate the void-for-vagueness doctrine, as well as the checks and balances characterizing the American legal system, making the development of the honest-services doctrine one of the most dynamic issues in the law today.

Keywords: white collar criminal law, criminal law, honest services, bribery, corruption, corporate crime, void-for-vagueness, Skilling, Black, Weyhrauch, 18 U.S.C. § 1346

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