Brief filed: 05/02/2022
Documents
United States v. Wilson
1st Circuit Court of Appeals; Case No. 22-1138
Prior Decision
D. Mass No. 19-cr-10080
Argument(s)
NACDL’s amicus brief argues that the federal fraud statutes protect only traditional concepts of property. The universities lost control over the composition of their incoming classes, which is not “property.” The “right to control” theory cannot salvage the property fraud convictions in this case. That theory does not apply here and, even if it did, the theory is doctrinally unsound. The government’s theory of property fraud has no limiting principle and would criminalize even the most trivial of deceptive conduct.
Author(s)
Michael J. Iacopino, NACDL Amicus Committee 1st Circuit Vice-Chair, Manchester, NH; Steven F. Molo and Leonid Grinberg, MoloLamken LLP, New York, NY; Justin V. Shur and Kenneth E. Notter III, MoloLamken LLP, Washington, DC.
