Loughrin v. United States (13-316)
argument 13-316Loughrin v. United States
Supreme Court of the United States
1h 2m
6 speakers
8 chapters
transcribed 7 days ago
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Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.
What is the central question the Supreme Court is addressing in Loughrin v. United States?
We'll hear argument this morning in case thirteen three one six, Locran versus United States. Mr Russell?
Mr. Chief Justice, I may please the Court. This case presents the question whether to commit federal bank fraud a defendant must intend to defraud a bank. or whether, as the Tenth Circuit held, It's enough that the defendant intended to defraud someone in order to obtain money the victim keeps in a bank account. Applying the Tenth Circuit's interpretation, the government has prosecuted people whose only relationship to a bank is that they tricked a third party into issuing them a perfectly valid check, which the defendant then cashed at a bank. Such a broad interpretation of the Federal Bank fraud statute threatens to sweep in a garden variety state law crimes of uh a broad uh sweep. Of the sort that this Court has refused uh to give to Federal criminal statutes absent a clear statement of congressional intent.
But if it's the if it's the words Congress used, obtain funds. owned or controlled by financial a financial institution by means of false representations.
Well the the if the problem is there is an ambiguity in the in subsection two about to whom the false representation must be directed. Now I acknowledge that ordinarily you would uh uh construe that silence uh in favor of breadth, that uh in favor of breadth, that a false statement to anyone would do, but there are compelling reasons not to give that ambiguity, that interpretation in this case. And one is the breadth. that I mentioned. It enabled the government to bring cases like United States versus Rodriguez, where the government prosecuted a bookkeeper who filed false invoices with her employer that led the employer then to issue perfectly valid checks to people who didn't do the work.
Well but the breadth is confined Given the development of the banking system, it may not seem as significant a limitation today as in years past, but nonetheless the definition of a financial institution is s uh in eighteen USC twenty is limited to institutions with a particular federal nexus. Federal Deposit Insurance, Federal Home Loan Bank, Small Business Investment Act. It isn't any financial institution, but institutions in which the Federal Government has a particular interest.
That's true. But nonetheless, for precisely the reason you identified, it it covers an awful lot of banks. And if you read the case.
And that's where I'm having difficulty. Why is it illogical? to think that a falsehood rendered through a third party that might affect A bank. a false check, as your client was charged with, that that would be the very case Congress would have wanted covered.
So that's a question about, I think, whether intent to defraud a bank could be satisfied in a case like this. And I think that the answer to that is possibly it could. So the government tries to put you to a false choice between saying you either have to accept the Tenth Circuit's interpretation that sweeps in cases like United States versus Rodriguez perfectly valid checks that don't implicate either of the core interests in a bank fraud case, which is protecting the bank from financial harm or protecting the bank from being lied to. You either have to accept that or you have to leave unprosecutable cases like this one. But that's not the question.
Well how would that how would that work? Would the jury have to be instructed about the UCC and be asked to determine whether the bank or target in this case would be liable for the funds if the bank had honored a forged check?
So that gets the there we have two theories. We have the theory that intent to defraud a bank is required, and under that theory the UCC doesn't matter. We also argue though, if you don't require intent to defraud a bank, why would it not matter? Because under the government it doesn't matter under the government's view or
under your view that there has to be an intent to defraud a bank, why would it not matter from who would ultimately be liable for them for the for the money uh for the amount
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is the central question the Supreme Court is addressing in Loughrin v. United States?
0:01–9:03
2
How does the petition argue that intent to defraud a bank should be interpreted?
9:03–18:46
3
Why does the government claim that a false statement to a third party still satisfies the bank‑fraud statute?
18:46–25:32
4
What examples do the lawyers use to illustrate the difference between defrauding a bank and defrauding a third party?
25:32–33:46
5
How do the parties interpret the two clauses of 18 U.S.C. § 1344 and their legislative history?
33:46–42:29
6
What is the significance of the sentencing differences between § 1344 and § 513?
42:29–53:38
7
How do the justices’ questions about the Uniform Commercial Code affect the analysis of altered‑check cases?
53:38–58:30
8
What conclusions does the Court reach about the scope of the federal bank‑fraud statute?
58:30–1:02:36