MAY809ED

The President, in two proclamations, has proclaimed May 1st as Law Day and Loyalty Day. The two concepts are reflected in our Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag, "...with liberty and justice for all."

We tend to view the judicial process as resulting in guilty or not guilty; court adjourned. But the laws that Congress makes and which the Proclamations urge us to reflect on are, as a recent US Supreme Court decision shows, more nuanced than that. Justice applied evenly, the strength of a nation of laws, often hangs on the interpretation of one word.

The court case, as reported in the Washington Post by Adam Liptak and Julie Preston, is Flores-Figueroa v. United States.

Mr. Flores-Figuero is an illegal alien who worked for six years at a steel plant in Illinois using a false name and Social Security number. The number was chosen randomly and belonged to no one.

He decided he wanted to be known by his real name. With that he produced a forged alien registration card and another Social Security card both with numbers belonging to someone else.

Immigration reform is one of those issues like universal healthcare; a majority of Americans want it but it never quite gets done. Mr. Flores-Figuero came into the US illegally, filled a job that an American could have filled and then attempted to make himself legal using stolen information. He will find no sympathy among Americans who are out of work.

Prosecutors included aggravated identity theft with the immigration charges thereby adding two years to the 51 months he will serve before he is deported. But the Supreme Court ruled that using someone's Social Security number is not aggravated identity theft if the perpetrator did not 'knowingly' use the number of an actual person.

The law says that Mr. Flores-Figuero would be guilty of aggravated identity theft if he "knowingly transfers, possesses or uses, without lawful authority, a means of identification of another person.” The prosecution argued that 'knowingly' applies to the verbs 'transfers', 'possesses' and 'uses'. The Court said it applies to the whole phrase. A randomly picked Social Security number, the court concluded, is as likely to belong to someone else as not, making the matter one of good luck or bad luck, not necessarily theft.

The Supreme Court decision is fair and it tells us something; that the laws Congress makes are not perfect and while it was Mr. Flores-Figuero's bad luck to pick the wrong Social Security number, it is his good fortune that while in the US, he is part of the 'all' for whom justice is guaranteed.

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Historical Highlights

From the Clerk of the US House

The Annual Congressional Baseball Game

May 1, 1926

Democrats and Republicans met on the greensward at Griffith Stadium for the ritual Congressional Baseball Game—a tradition dating to 1909.

On the eve of the game, the press beckoned staff and city residents to fill the bleachers. “Public encouragement and applause may work wonders in developing Walter Johnsons and Babe Ruths from the raw material of Congress,” chortled the Washington Post.

"To many Americans the baseball bat is mightier than the tongue; and in any event the exercise of another set of muscles will be beneficial to the habitués of the cloakrooms.”

More than 4,000 fans arrived early to watch elaborate pre-game ceremonies. An elephant and donkey led parades by both parties, while a comedian served as emcee and the Army and Navy bands played tunes.

Speaker Nicholas Longworth of Ohio, flanked by an entourage of social and political leaders, occupied the President’s box. Ticket sales supported the Congressional Wives’ Club.

The game was a high-scoring affair as Republicans opened an early lead by ripping into Democratic pitching for seven runs on six hits. Representative Carl G. Bachmann of West Virginia led the GOP on 4-for-4 hitting with two doubles. Behind the bats of Thomas J. Busby of Mississippi, Thomas W. Wilson of Mississippi, and James M. Mead of New York—each went 3-for-4 at the plate—Democrats forged ahead to a 12–9 advantage.

In the bottom of the seventh inning, however, Republicans tried to ignite a rally by sending their big sluggers to bat out of order. When Representative Bachmann strode into the batter’s box for a fifth time, Democrats protested. After 15 minutes of debate and wrangling at home plate, the umpires called the game in the Democrats’ favor.