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The federal indictment of Ruffin Poole, a top aide to former Gov. Mike Easley, in January included charges that he schemed to deprive the public of "honest services."

Other North Carolina political figures have been convicted and sent to prison under the federal "honest services" law, including Michael Decker, a state legislator; Frank Ballance, a congressman; and Kevin Geddings, a lottery commissioner.

Whether the same statute ends up snaring Poole, however, may depend on the U.S. Supreme Court. It's heard three cases since December, including an appeal by former Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling, which was argued Monday, where convictions under the law have been challenged.

Critics say the measure is vague and overly broad. During oral arguments in December, Justice Antonin Scalia wondered whether it could be used to charge a salaried employee who phones in sick to go to a ball game.

The court shouldn't get tangled up in trivialities. While it's possible for prosecutors to apply any law too vigorously, juries can tell the difference between a worker who cheats his employer out of a day's pay and a corrupt public official or dishonest corporate executive.

The Poole indictment explained the concept of "honest services," noting: "As a public official, he had a fiduciary duty to ensure that the public received honest services free of improper influence or corruption."

The indictment listed other charges, including bribery and extortion. But it's a key addition to allege that someone in high public office uses the power of that position to serve his own interests rather than the people's. It probably should be applied more often to hold accountable elected officials who don't seem to take seriously their oath of office.

Also in the dock on this charge is former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, whom federal prosecutors say tried to auction a vacant U.S. Senate seat. If that's true, it's a perfect example of making an important decision for reasons that have nothing to do with the best interests of the public.

It's also what Congress intended when it introduced the Anti-Corruption Act of 1988. Then-Sen. Joe Biden, one of the sponsors, said it would "make it possible, once again, to prosecute and send to prison those public officials who corrupt their offices and betray the trust placed in them."

Some former supporters, however, say prosecutors sometimes stretch the law too far. Notre Dame Law School Professor G. Robert Blakey told The Wall Street Journal's Law Blog last month that the statute has "become a catch-all claim."

But there needs to be a law to catch all the people in power who fail in their duty to provide "honest services free of improper influence or corruption." The court should not strike this one.

Without the federal statute, corrupt North Carolina politicians would have less to fear, and the public would have a weaker claim to their honest services.