Law360, New York ( March 4, 2013, 12:53 PM EST) -- Title 18, United States Code § 371 criminalizes "conspiracies to defraud the United States." For decades, this section has been understood to prohibit so-called Klein conspiracies to "impair or impede" the lawful functions of the federal government. However, in a recent decision, the Second Circuit cast serious doubt on the historical underpinnings of this interpretation. Although the U.S. Supreme Court has itself interpreted § 371 broadly in the past, the Second Circuit's opinion in United States v. Coplan, 703 F.3d 46 (2d Cir. 2012), invites the Supreme Court to reconsider that interpretation and, should the court do so, its decision could significantly cut back on the scope of one of prosecutors' favorite tools....
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