Ignacio Carlos Flores-figueroa v. United States (556 U.S. 646)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided May 4, 2009 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 556 U.S. 646 · 129 S. Ct. 1886
- Decided
- May 4, 2009
- Term
- October Term 2008
- Vote
- 9–0
- Majority author
- Justice Breyer
- Issue area
- Civil Rights
- Disposition
- Reversed and remanded
- Outcome
- Petitioning party won
- Ideological direction
- Liberal
Opinion excerpt
Justice Breyer delivered the opinion of the Court. A federal criminal statute forbidding “Aggravated identity theft” imposes a mandatory consecutive 2-year prison term upon individuals convicted of certain other crimes if, during (or in relation to) the commission of those other crimes, the offender “knowingly transfers, possesses, or uses, without lawful authority, a means of identification of another person.” 18 U. S. C. § 1028A(a)(l) (emphasis added). The question is whether the statute requires the Government to show that the defendant knew that the “means of identification” he or she unlawfully transferred, possessed, or used, in fact, belonged to “another person.” We conclude that it does. I A The statutory provision in question references a set of predicate crimes, including, for example, theft of government property, fraud, or engaging in various unlawful activities related to passports, visas, and immigration. §1028A(c). It then provides that if any person who commits any of those other crimes (in doing so) “knowingly transfers, possesses, or uses, without lawful authority, a means of identification of another person,” the judge must add two years’ imprisonment to the offender’s underlying sentence. § 1028A(a)(l). All parties agree that the provision applies only where the offender knows that he is transferring, possessing, or using something. And the Government…
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