November 10, 2014 — Justices of the Supreme Court expressed justifiable skepticism this week about the use of a law aimed at financial crimes to prosecute a fisherman who destroyed evidence of an illegal catch. By reversing the conviction of John Yates, the court can put federal prosecutors on notice that they need to pay attention not only to the wording of criminal laws but also to their context and purpose.
Yates is a commercial fisherman who was cited in 2007 for violating a law against catching red groupers smaller than 20 inches in length. After a fish and wildlife officer left Yates' boat, Yates allegedly ordered his crew to dispose of the undersized groupers and replace them with larger fish. When the vessel returned to port, the office measured the fish and concluded that there had been a substitution, a scheme confirmed by a crew member. Yates was convicted of destroying, concealing or making a false entry in any “record, document or tangible object” with the intent of obstructing an investigation.
That offense was part of a law passed by Congress after the scandal involving the Enron energy corporation. That the provision was aimed at the destruction of financial records is obvious from the law's reference to “making a false entry.” Yet prosecutors concluded that fish were among the “tangible objects” whose destruction Congress meant to outlaw.
Read the full opinion from the Los Angeles Times