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Page Number: 12

8 

DUBIN v. UNITED STATES 

Opinion of the Court 

C 
Having found the key terms “use” and “in relation to” in-
determinate, the next step is to look to their surrounding
words.  After all, “a statute’s meaning does not always turn
solely on the broadest imaginable definitions of its compo-
nent  words.”    Epic  Systems  Corp.  v.  Lewis,  584  U. S.  ___, 
___ (2018) (slip op., at 23) (internal quotation marks omit-
ted).  Instead, “[l]inguistic and statutory context also mat-
ter.”  Ibid.  Even in cases where “the literal language of the 
statute is neutral” in isolation, reading “the whole phrase” 
can point to a more targeted reading.  Marinello v. United 
States, 584 U. S. ___, ___–___ (2018) (slip op., at 4–5). 

Such  is  the  case  here.   Section  1028A(a)(1)’s  title  and 
terms  both  point  to  a  narrower  reading,  one  centered
around the ordinary understanding of identity theft.  This 
cuts  against  the  Government’s  broad  reading,  which  the
Government admits bears little relationship to the common
understanding  of  identity  theft.    In  contrast,  a  more  tar-
geted reading accurately captures the ordinary understand-
ing of identity theft, where misuse of a means of identifica-
tion is at the crux of the criminality. 

1 

Start  at  the  top,  with  the  words  Congress  chose  for 
§1028A’s title: “Aggravated identity theft.”  118 Stat. 831. 
This Court has long considered that “ ‘the title of a statute
and the heading of a section’ are ‘tools available for the res-
olution  of  a  doubt’  about  the  meaning  of  a  statute.”    Al-
mendarez-Torres v. United States, 523 U. S. 224, 234 (1998) 
(quoting  Trainmen  v.  Baltimore  &  Ohio  R.  Co.,  331  U. S. 
519, 528–529 (1947)).  A title will not, of course, “override 
the plain words” of a statute.  Fulton v. Philadelphia, 593 
U. S. ___, ___ (2021) (slip op., at 9).  Yet here, the key terms 
are so “elastic” that they must be construed “in light of the 
terms surrounding [them],” Leocal, 543 U. S., at 9, and the