He's not out of jail yet. But the Supreme Court has seemingly handed a victory to Jeff Skilling, the former CEO of Enron (Enron news), the man most responsible for the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (Sarbanes-Oxley news). He is now serving a 24-year sentence following his conviction for fraud back in 2006.

Some of Skilling's charges could be dismissed, and his 24-year sentence could be reduced. But that remains to be seen, as Skilling's conviction does not necessarily have to be overturned. The high court left it to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to decide what the ultimate impact would be, since Skilling was simultaneously accused under other laws.

We could see some but not all of his charges retried or dismissed. The public reception to this will be interesting. Corporate fraud (fraud news) has cycled back into the headlines, and he remains a prime symbol, to his critics anyway, of the greed that felled so many big companies. For the Justices, the real issue was the "honest services" law under which Skilling was accused and convicted. The majority held basically that it only covers bribery and kickbacks, which weren't issues in the Skilling case.

In a jailhouse discussion with another, Skilling says he has learned a lot about how to deal with these sorts of situations, offering three tips for convicted white-dollar felons. 

For more:
- here's a Houston Chronicle article

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