''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. § 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.

References

External links

* 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 {{SCOTUS-case-stub

Background

Opinion of the Court

See also

References

Further reading

External links