Cert Grant: What Is “Knowing” Identity Theft?

A federal statute, 18 U.S.C. § 1028A, imposes a mandatory two-year prison sentence on defendants who “knowingly” use “a means of identification of another person” in the course of committing a felony.  The two years is in addition to the sentence imposed for the underlying felony.  But what exactly does the word “knowingly” refer to in the statute: is it enough that the defendant knew that he was using a means of identification, or must the government also prove that the defendant knew the identification belonged to another person?  This is the question raised in a case that the Supreme Court agreed to hear earlier today, United States v. Flores-Figueroa.  The unpublished opinion below can be found at 2008 WL 1808508.

SCOTUS Blog summarizes the facts as follows:

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Priorities for the Next President: Corporate Law

One of the principal things a new administration is going to have to address in the area of corporate law is how to encourage business managers to properly assess the long-term risks facing their businesses, and to manage those risks so that their businesses are sustainable in the long-term.  The need for U.S. businesses, on which Americans rely for jobs as well as many basic goods and services (such as banking and insurance), to appreciate and guard against the long-term risks associated with their business activities should be evident from the current financial crisis, which stemmed in large part from financial institutions’ failure to appreciate and guard against the risks associated with the complex mortgage-backed securities and derivative instruments they held and the inevitable bursting of the housing bubble.  As a consequence, Americans not only worry that their investments (including retirement and life savings accounts) held by these financial institutions might be at risk, but they also question the long-term stability of the U.S. economy.

So what should a new administration do to make businesses better appreciate, and protect themselves from, the long-term risks associated with their businesses?

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Seventh Circuit Week in Review

Beginning with this post, I will provide a regular weekend review of new Seventh Circuit opinions in criminal cases.  The past week was actually very quiet on the criminal front, with only one new opinion (and that one not especially significant in terms of discussing or modifying the law).  In United States v. Jackson, the three defendants were convicted of mail fraud in connection with a scheme to bilk their car insurance carriers by submitting false theft claims.  The Seventh Circuit had little apparent difficulty in affirming the convictions over the defendants’ arguments that the evidence was insufficient, that material evidence had been withheld by the government, and that evidence of a prior conviction had been improperly admitted.

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