This definition includes the use of my name, alone or in conjunction with any other information, as constituting the use of a means of identification so long as the information taken as a whole identifies a specific individual. There is nothing in the language of the statute that suggests the use of another's name in the form of a signature is somehow excluded from the definition of "means of identification."
Were we to find that signatures are categorically not names and thus not included within this definition, we would be disregarding the "settled principle of statutory construction that we must give effect, if possible, to every word of the statute." Bowsher v. Merck & Co., Inc.,460 U.S. 824, 833, 103 S.Ct. 1587, 75 L.Ed.2d 580 (1983) (citation omitted). By using the word "any" to qualify the term "name," the statute reflects Congress's intention to construct an expansive definition. See Ali v. Federal Bureau of Prisons, ___ U.S. ___, 128 S.Ct. 831, 835-36, 169 L.Ed.2d 680 (2008) ("Read naturally, the word `any' has an expansive meaning, that is, `one or some indiscriminately of whatever kind.' ") (citation and alteration omitted). Categorically carving out a signature from this definition, although a signature is commonly understood to be the written form of a person's name[1], would impermissibly narrow the definition of "name" in the statute. Thus, we agree with the district court that a signature is a name for the purpose of applying the Aggravated Identity Theft statute.
Kenneth G. McGuire, Supervisory Special Agent, Cyber Crime Squad, FBI- Los Angeles Field Office Special Ken, above, specializes in making pretty Power Point Presentations about this web site, as seen here.
Henry Louis Gates' Contempt Of Cop Emptywheel - At tonight's nationally televised press conference, a reporter asked President Obama a question about the July 16 arrest of famed Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates. Obama set off...
Contempt of Cop' by William Norman Grigg - The police are to the government as the edge is to the knife, insists sociologist David Bayley, who apparently couldn't explain why the typical...
Welcome to America Now step inside the jail cell - The audio exchange in this video was apparently recorded at the U.S. Canada border after a Canadian displayed contempt-of-cop towards the American law enforcement officer asking questions.
Contemptible police tactics - Cops raid the home of a licensed medical marijuana provider in Washington, handcuff the fourteen year old son and put a gun to his head, and search the nineteen year old daughter and take the contents of her mickey-mouse wallet.
How To Survive Traffic Stops in America, Submit, Instantly! - What the cops want is immediate obedience and submission. Many cops are ex-military and view the civilian motorists of America about like they viewed the hapless peasants of Iraq and Afghanistan, that is, with contempt, not as fellow citizens deserving of civility and respect. It is a possibly lethal mistake to do anything other than submit, instantly and obey! Or be ready to shoot first. But aim high.
