NCJ Number
90985
Journal
American Criminal Law Review Volume: 21 Issue: 1 Dated: (Summer 1983) Pages: 1-28
Date Published
1983
Length
28 pages
Annotation
At both the State and Federal levels, the law of mail fraud has steadily grown through judicial expansion and should be reformed so that it will not expand further.
Abstract
The law now reaches novel forms of misconduct which were not contemplated by the legislature at the time the statute was enacted. To rectify this situation, mail fraud should not stand apart from the modern law on inchoate crimes. Instead, it should be coherently and consistently integrated with that body of law and limited by standards equivalent to those governing the law of attempt. In addition, the obligation to disclose any conflict of interest by either public or private fiduciaries should be limited to some objective event such as the issuance of securities, the solicitation of proxies, or the filing of a formal document. A legislative 'safe harbor' is needed for certain legitimate types of fundraising, and disclosure should be required only where the defendant has sought personal gain or benefit. Moreover, the Justice Department should undertake internal reform to eliminate the random allocation of Federal prosecutorial resources. The Department needs policy guidelines aimed at the use of intermediate sanctions and the activation of State resources. Without reforms such as these, the widening of the applications of the mail fraud statute will continue. Footnotes which contain references are provided.