rssSCOTUS: Identity Theft Must Be Intentional to Be Illegal
Monday, May 04, 2009 at 5:02 pm
- 5 Comments
The Supreme Court on Monday ruled unanimously that to convict an individual for identity theft, the defendant must have known that he was using the identity of an existing person.
The case arose, at such cases usually do, in the context of an undocumented worker, Ignacio Flores-Figueroa, who submitted false documents to an employer to get a job. After his employer reported him, the government discovered that the social security number was real, only it was somebody else’s. The government charged Flores-Figheroa with entering the United States illegally, misusing immigration documents, and identity theft.
He was convicted, and Flores-Figheroa appealed the identity theft charge, claiming he didn’t know the number he had belonged to anybody at all. The court upheld the conviction anyway.
Today, the Supreme Court reversed, holding that law, which requires that the offender “knowingly transfers, possesses, or uses, without lawful authority, a means of identification of another person” means exactly that — that the offender must know that he did it.
The full opinion is here.
5 Comments
Comment posted May 4, 2009 @ 2:53 pm
The point is that the illegal alien knew the number didn't belong to him, regardless of who it actually belonged to. He also knew that he was paying for a fake social security card.
So now if we knowingly buy a stolen car we haven't broken any laws unless we knew that the car actually belonged to an individual. This is absolutely absurd and insane!
A social security number, like a car, always belongs to someone from cradle to grave. Either the government owns it, before it is assigned to a legal citizen, or an individual owns it after it has been assigned. Either way, using a number that does not belong to you is theft.
We teach our children this. Do not take things that do not belong to you unless you have permission. It's stealing!!
This is truly insane.
Comment posted May 4, 2009 @ 3:26 pm
Oh my God.
So a guy buys an illegal social security card, but can't be found guilty of messing up someone else's ID.
Something is very wrongheaded about this. It's the risk anyone takes when buying illegal papers, cuz they don't come with a promise of anything.
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Comment posted May 4, 2009 @ 9:53 pm
The point is that the illegal alien knew the number didn't belong to him, regardless of who it actually belonged to. He also knew that he was paying for a fake social security card.
So now if we knowingly buy a stolen car we haven't broken any laws unless we knew that the car actually belonged to an individual. This is absolutely absurd and insane!
A social security number, like a car, always belongs to someone from cradle to grave. Either the government owns it, before it is assigned to a legal citizen, or an individual owns it after it has been assigned. Either way, using a number that does not belong to you is theft.
We teach our children this. Do not take things that do not belong to you unless you have permission. It's stealing!!
This is truly insane.
Comment posted May 4, 2009 @ 10:26 pm
Oh my God.
So a guy buys an illegal social security card, but can't be found guilty of messing up someone else's ID.
Something is very wrongheaded about this. It's the risk anyone takes when buying illegal papers, cuz they don't come with a promise of anything.
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