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115 Colum. L. Rev. 941 (2015)
Blurred Lines of Identity Crimes: Intersection of the First Amendment and Federal Identity Fraud

handle is hein.journals/clr115 and id is 989 raw text is: NOTES BLURRED LINES OF IDENTITY CRIMES: INTERSECTION OF THE FIRST AMENDMENT AND FEDERAL IDENTITY FRAUD Philip F. DiSanto* Several recent high-profile criminal cases have highlighted the dynamic nature of identity crimes in a modern digital era and the boundaries prosecutors sometimes push to squeeze arguably wrongful conduct into an outdated legal framework. In many cases, two federal statutes-18 U. S.C § 1028 and § 1028A-provide prosecutors with potent tools to aggressively pursue online identity thieves. But the broadly defined terms of these provisions may also expose innocent par- ties to criminal liability. This Note argues that broadly defined federal identity-fraud stat- utes facilitate unconstitutional restrictions on protected speech. Speci- fically, this Note maintains that § 1028 and § 1028A are defined in vague and overbroad statutory terms that criminalize expressive con- duct and chill protected speech. Left unchecked, these statutes expose in- stitutional journalists, online commentators, and ordinary citizens to criminal liability for nothing more than sharing a hyperlink. This Note then concludes by presenting three potential routes to eliminate these unconstitutional restrictions and protect the Internet's role as a unique communication medium. INTRODUCTION On September 12, 2012, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) took Barrett Brown into custody in Dallas, Texas.1 Law-enforcement officers raided his apartment several hours after he posted a video threat- ening to destroy the life of a federal agent and gather information about that agent's family.2 The FBI had previously searched both his apartment and his mother's apartment in the weeks leading up to his * J.D. Candidate 2015, Columbia Law School. 1. See Gerry Smith, Barrett Brown Arrested: Former Anonymous Spokesman Taken into Custody After Threatening FBI Agent, Huffington Post (Sept. 13, 2012, 7:23 PM), http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/13/barrett-brown-arrested-fo_n_1881535.html (on file with the Columbia Law Review) (discussing factual circumstances surrounding Brown's arrest). 2. Id.; Barrett Brown, Why I'm Going to Destroy FBI Agent [RS] Part Three, YouTube (Sept. 12, 2012), http://youtu.be/TOW7GOrXNZI [hereinafter Brown YouTube Video] (on file with the Columbia Law Review). 941

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