Go Ahead and Use Whatever Social Security Number You Want

It doesn't matter anymore (from the Denver Post):

The Colorado Supreme Court issued a controversial opinion this week that seems to have flown under the radar. It involves the propriety of charging someone with “criminal impersonation” for merely using someone else’s social security number.

The court, in a 4-3 decision, held that Felix Montes-Rodriguez should not have been convicted under the criminal impersonation statute because he “did not assume a false or fictitious identity or capacity.”

Furthermore, decision says the prosecution presented no evidence that a social security number was a legal requirement to get a loan, which is what the defendant was doing when he used the social security number that belonged to someone else.

And it's not just Colorado. This ruling came down a couple of days ago:

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has overturned Arizona’s requirement that people show proof of citizenship to register to vote.

The split decision by a three-judge panel determined that the requirement to show proof of citizenship — passed by voters in 2004 — is not consistent with the National Voter Registration Act.

Associate Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, temporarily sitting by designation, and Circuit Judge Sandra Ikuta, with chief judge Alex Kozinski dissenting, said Prop. 200 creates an additional hurdle, while the national act is intended to reduce “state-imposed obstacles” to registration.

We're not only losing our national identity, we're losing our individual identity.