26
Opinion of the Court
theless disagree with the Government's reading of § 1341. In McNally, we recognized that "[b]ecause the two phrases identifying the proscribed schemes appear in the disjunctive, it is arguable that they are to be construed independently." 483 U. S., at 358. But we rejected that construction of the statute, instead concluding that the second phrase simply modifies the first by "ma[king] it unmistakable that the statute reached false promises and misrepresentations as to the future as well as other frauds involving money or property." Id., at 359. Indeed, directly contradicting the Government's view, we said that "the mail fraud statute . . . had its origin in the desire to protect individual property rights, and any benefit which the Government derives from the statute must be limited to the Government's interests as property holder." Id., at 359, n. 8 (emphasis added). We reaffirm our reading of § 1341 in McNally. See Hilton v. South Carolina Public Railways Comm'n, 502 U. S. 197, 205 (1991) ("stare decisis is most compelling" where "a pure question of statutory construction" is involved). Were the Government correct that the second phrase of § 1341 defines a separate offense, the statute would appear to arm federal prosecutors with power to police false statements in an enormous range of submissions to state and local authorities. For reasons already stated, see supra, at 24-25, we decline to attribute to § 1341 a purpose so encompassing where Congress has not made such a design clear.
IV
We conclude that § 1341 requires the object of the fraud to be "property" in the victim's hands and that a Louisiana
constitutes 'property' or 'rights to property' is a matter of federal law," Drye v. United States, 528 U. S. 49, 58 (1999) (citing United States v. National Bank of Commerce, 472 U. S. 713, 727 (1985)). In some contexts, we have held that individuals have constitutionally protected property interests in state-issued licenses essential to pursuing an occupation or livelihood. See, e. g., Bell v. Burson, 402 U. S. 535, 539 (1971) (driver's license).
Page: Index Previous 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 NextLast modified: October 4, 2007