Supreme Court Rules Against Government in Identity-Theft Case Regarding Immigrants

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/05/us/05scotus.htn

"The Supreme Court ruled unanimously on Monday that the federal government has been going too far in using identity-theft laws to prosecute undocumented workers who use fake identification to get and hold jobs.

In limiting the use of a law enacted in 2004 that has become a favorite weapon of the authorities who go after illegal immigrants, the justices said that to use it, a prosecutor must be able to show that a defendant knew that the identification he used actually belonged to another person.

The ruling in Flores-Figueroa v. United States, No. 08-108, was written by Justice Stephen G. Breyer and relied heavily on the wording of the statute, specifically its language regarding when a defendant can be properly accused of “knowingly” and unlawfully using another person's identification.

It was that reasoning that the Supreme Court rejected on Monday, depriving the authorities not only of a prosecutorial tool but also of a means to pressure immigrants to plead guilty to lesser charges and agree to be deported. That was what happened to about 400 illegal workers arrested at a meatpacking plant in Postville, Iowa, in May 2008 in one of the most conspicuous immigration-enforcement incidents in recent years.

Justice Breyer said the ruling should not affect the pursuit and prosecution of identity theft in general, since in a typical case an offender who uses someone else's credit card or bank document knows full well that the credit card or bank document he uses belongs to a real person, and that the person will be harmed by the fraud."