''Flores-Figueroa v. United States'', 556 U.S. 646 (2009), was a decision by the
Supreme Court of the United States, holding that the law enhancing the sentence for
identity theft
Identity theft occurs when someone uses another person's personal identifying information, like their name, identifying number, or credit card number, without their permission, to commit fraud or other crimes. The term ''identity theft'' was c ...
requires proof that an individual knew that the identity card or number he had used belonged to another, actual person. Simply using a Social Security Number is not sufficient connection to another individual.
Background
Ignacio Flores-Figueroa, an illegal alien from Mexico, used a counterfeit
Social Security card
In the United States, a Social Security number (SSN) is a nine-digit number issued to U.S. citizens, permanent residents, and temporary (working) residents under section 205(c)(2) of the Social Security Act, codified as . The number is issued to ...
bearing his real name and a false
Social Security number to obtain employment at a steel plant in
East Moline, Illinois
East Moline is a city in Rock Island County, Illinois, United States. The population was 21,374 at the 2020 census. East Moline is part of the Quad Cities, along with the cities of Rock Island, Moline, and the Iowa cities of Davenport and Bet ...
. Though he did not know it, the number belonged to a real person, a minor. The question in the case was whether workers who use false Social Security and alien registration numbers must know that they belong to a real person to be subject to a two-year sentence extension for "aggravated identity theft."
Specifically, the case hinged on whether the adverb "
knowingly In law, knowledge is one of the degrees of '' mens rea'' that constitute part of a crime. For example, in English law, the offense of knowingly being a passenger in a vehicle taken without consent (TWOC) requires that the prosecution prove not onl ...
" applies only to the verb or also to the object in
18 U.S.C. ยง 1028A(a)(1) (which defines aggravated identity theft): "Whoever
..knowingly transfers, possesses, or uses, without lawful authority, a means of identification of another person
...
[Jason Merchant (February 25, 2009]
Adverbial modification at the Supreme Court today
Language Log.
Opinion of the Court
In a unanimous decision delivered by
Justice Breyer
Stephen Gerald Breyer ( ; born August 15, 1938) is a retired American lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1994 until his retirement in 2022. He was nominated by President Bill Clinton, and rep ...
on May 4, 2009, the Court held that a prosecutor must be able to show that a defendant knew that the identification he used actually belonged to another person.
See also
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List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 556
This is a list of all the United States Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court ca ...
*
Mens rea
*''
Morissette v. United States'' (1952)
References
Further reading
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External links
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United States Supreme Court cases
2009 in United States case law
Social Security lawsuits
Illegal immigration to the United States
United States Supreme Court cases of the Roberts Court
United States identity theft case law
East Moline, Illinois
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