In Rich-Hunt, philosopher Roger Donway tells the detailed story of how [Greg] Reyes ended up in this position and how little the prosecutor cared about truth, let alone justice. The result is a chilling page-turner. If you don’t know much about how vague federal laws and regulations can put innocent people at risk, or if you already know but want to know more, Rich-Hunt is for you.

This is from my review of Roger Donway, Rich-Hunt: The Backdated Options Frenzy and the Ordeal of Greg Reyes, which appears in the latest issue of Regulation.

Another excerpt from my review:

Donway, who heads the Business Rights Center of the Atlas Society, makes his position clear from the outset. He sees Reyes as a hard-working, clear-thinking entrepreneurial hero. He also sees the law that Reyes was charged with violating as pernicious and vague. But even if one thinks that Reyes was not a hero, and even if one thinks that the law was a good law, Donway gives ample evidence that the legal system badly abused an innocent man. The abuse involved prosecutorial misconduct and mischievous actions by a federal judge. Another player that comes off looking very bad is the Wall Street Journal‘s news section, which hyped the backdating options controversy as if it was obvious that options shouldn’t be backdated.

The federal judge, by the way, is Charles Breyer. People who closely followed the Ed Rosenthal trial would probably not be very surprised by his conduct.