What an interesting week! The sports world was fascinating, between a dramatic World Cup win for the United States, a Raleigh native being picked first in the NBA draft, and a Greensboro native winning the longest tennis match ever played. But the legal world was pretty interesting, too: 1. The United States Supreme Court decided a trilogy of cases yesterday regarding the scope of 18 U.S.C. § 1346, the federal "honest services" fraud statute. The opinions in the lead case, United States v. Skilling, total well over 100 pages, so I haven't digested them all yet. The basic gist, though, is that the court adopts a narrowing construction of the statute, limiting its application to cases in which the defendant was involved in bribes or kickbacks. The New York Times covers the story here. As the News and Observer reports, the statute in question has been used in a number of high-profile federal prosecutions in North Carolina, including those of former Agriculture Commissioner Meg Phipps, former Representative Frank Ballance, Jr., and former lottery commissioner Kevin Geddings. The decision might not be all doom and gloom for the government, though, as Crime and Consequences argues here. 2. Turning to Raleigh, the General Assembly seems to be moving towards another attempt to ban "internet sweepstakes" games. The bill, which has been passed by the Senate and appears likely to be passed by the House, is here. The News and Observer's story is here. And the industry's television ad, asking for regulation and taxation [...]
Faculty Coordinators
