Garrit Bates v. United States (522 U.S. 23)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided November 4, 1997 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 522 U.S. 23 · 118 S. Ct. 285
- Decided
- November 4, 1997
- Term
- October Term 1997
- Vote
- 9–0
- Majority author
- Justice Ginsburg
- Issue area
- Criminal Procedure
- Disposition
- Affirmed
- Outcome
- Petitioning party lost
- Ideological direction
- Conservative
Opinion excerpt
Justice Ginsburg delivered the opinion of the Court. This case concerns the meaning of § 490(a) (Pub. L. 99-498), 100 Stat. 1491, as added, 20 U. S. C. § 1097(a) (1988 ed.), which declared it a felony “knowingly and willfully” to misapply student loan funds insured under Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965. The United States acknowledges that § 1097(a) demanded allegation and proof of the defendant’s intentional conversion of loan funds to his own use or the use of a third party. The question presented is whether § 1097(a) demanded, in addition, allegation and proof that the defendant specifically intended to injure or defraud someone — either the United States as loan guarantor, as the District Court read the measure, or another. We hold, in accord with the Court of Appeals, that specific intent to. injure or defraud someone, whether the United States or another, is not an element of the misapplication of funds proscribed by § 1097(a). I . The indictment in this ease, App. 2-12, alleged the following facts. James and Laurenda Jackson ówned and operated Education America, Inc., a for-profit consulting and management firm for technical and vocational schools. In December 1986, the Jacksons acquired the Acme Institute of Technology, a not-for-profit technical school located in South Bend, Indiana, which offered associate degree programs in electronic engineering, and…
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