U.S. Supreme Court
Merely misleading statements aren’t illegal under false statements law, Supreme Court says
A federal law that makes it a crime to knowingly make false statements to influence the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. does not punish statements that are merely misleading, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Friday. (Photo by Allison Robbert/The Washington Post)
A federal law that makes it a crime to knowingly make false statements to influence the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. does not punish statements that are merely misleading, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Friday.
The high court ruled for Patrick Daley Thompson, a lawyer and a former alderman who is the grandson of former Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley and the nephew of former Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley, SCOTUSblog reports. Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the unanimous March 21 decision.
According to SCOTUSblog, the decision “was the most recent of a series of rulings over the past several years in which the court has pushed back against a broader reading of federal criminal laws by prosecutors.”
Other publications covering the opinion include Law360, WBEZ, the Chicago Tribune and the New York Times.
Thompson had received three loans totaling $219,000 from the Washington Federal Bank for Savings over a three-year period. The first loan of $110,000 was used to make an equity payment to his law firm. The second loan was for $20,000, and the third loan was for $89,000. The FDIC became responsible for collecting outstanding loans after the bank failed in 2017.
Thompson told the FDIC’s loan servicer and two FDIC contractors that he had borrowed $110,000. Thompson maintained that his statement was misleading but not false because he referred only to the first $110,000 loan. He later agreed to settle the debt for $219,000.
Thompson was convicted in February 2022, and the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals at Chicago affirmed. The Supreme Court vacated the appellate decision.
“Given that some misleading statements are also true, it is significant that the statute uses only the word ‘false,’” Roberts wrote in the unanimous opinion. “In casual conversation, people use many overlapping words to describe shady statements: false, misleading, dishonest, deceptive, literally true and more. Only one of those words appears in the statute.”
The Supreme Court did not decide whether the conviction could be upheld because Thompson’s statement was false. The issue can be addressed on remand, Roberts said.
Thompson has already served his sentence of four months in prison, according to WBEZ. He was also convicted for filing false tax returns, but that was not an issue in the appeal.
The case is Thompson v. United States.
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