Supreme Court of the United States Limits Scope of “Honest Services” Doctrine in Three Rulings - Supreme Court of the United States Limits Scope of “Honest Services” Doctrine in Three Rulings

On June 24, 2010, the Supreme Court of the United States issued its rulings in the cases of Skilling v. United States, Black, et al. v. United States, and Weyhrauch v. United States. These rulings affected the convictions of three high-profile defendants and limited the application of 18 USC § 1346 — the “honest services” doctrine — to cases which specifically involved the acceptance of bribes and kickbacks and did not apply the statute to cases dealing generally with undisclosed self-dealing or other conflicts of interest.