Thompson v. United States

Summary

The Court, in an opinion authored by Chief Justice Roberts, held that 18 U.S.C. §1014 criminalizes only false statements and does not extend to statements that are merely misleading but true. The Court vacated the Seventh Circuit’s judgment and remanded for further proceedings to determine whether a reasonable jury could find Thompson’s statements false. Justice Alito filed a concurring opinion emphasizing the ordinary meaning of “false” and the need for context, while Justice Jackson also concurred, noting that the lower courts’ instructions were not erroneous and that the Seventh Circuit need only assess the falsity element on remand.