Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/22pdf/22-10_ifjn.pdf
Page Number: 32

Cite as:  599 U. S. ____ (2023) 

7 

 GORSUCH, J., concurring
GORSUCH, J., concurring in judgment 

could use principles of statutory interpretation to choose be-
tween  them.  The  same  holds  true  for  many  of  the  other 
statutes  the  Court  (mistakenly)  frets  I  would  call  into 
doubt.  See ante, at 20, n. 10. 

The same cannot be said for §1028A(a)(1), though.  There 
are an uncountable number of ways in which an individual 
could “us[e]” the “means of identification” of another to com-
mit fraud.  That list covers everything from including a vic-
tim’s name in the subject line of a fraudulent email; to mis-
representing  information  on  a  loan  form  involving  a  co-
signer; to putting on a wig and walking into a bank with a
fake  ID.  And  no  obvious  neutral  rule  exists  to  separate 
those “uses” that violate §1028A(a)(1) from others that do 
not.  In this way, §1028A(a)(1) is not just an “ambiguous”
statute—“one  that  does  define  prohibited  conduct  with 
some precision, but [that] is subject to two or more different
interpretations.”  J. Decker, Addressing Vagueness, Ambi-
guity, and Other Uncertainty in American Criminal Laws, 
80 Denver U. L. Rev. 241, 261 (2002) (emphasis added).  In-
stead, it is a vague statute—one that “does not satisfactorily
define the proscribed conduct” at all.  Id., at 260–261. 

I do not write this opinion as wishcasting.  Perhaps, by
applying the Court’s “crux” test, lower courts will achieve a 
consistency that has, to date, eluded them.  Or perhaps they 
will, prompted by today’s decision, locate a previously un-
seen path through this statutory quagmire.  But I would not 
hold my breath.  Section 1028A(a)(1) simply does too little
to specify which individuals deserve the inglorious title of
“aggravated  identity  thief.”    That  is  a  problem  Congress 
alone can fix.  Until it does, I fear the issues that have long 
plagued  lower  courts  will  persist.    And  I  will  not  be  sur-
prised if someday, maybe someday soon, they find their way 
back here.