Supreme Court rules against identity theft victim

By Gina Holland

Associated Press

WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court ruled today against a California woman whose identity was stolen, closing the door on late lawsuits over credit reporting problems.

The 9-0 decision, the first of the court’s term, strips Adelaide Andrews of the right to sue a former credit reporting agency for giving out her private information. Her attorney argued that the lawsuit was late because she didn’t find out right away about the reporting activities.

Among other action today, the court:

  • Ordered that former President Clinton’s name be removed from the roster of lawyers approved for practice at the high court. Clinton asked to resign from the Supreme Court bar last week, rather than fight suspension or disbarment related to the Paula Jones sexual harassment investigation.

  • Refused to consider changing Louisiana’s law that gives some grandparents court-ordered rights to see their grandchildren. The justices declined to review an appeal from a former oil-rig worker left to raise a 1-year-old daughter when his wife died of a brain tumor. The man argued that his late wife’s family was trying to be a parent to his child.

  • Declined to spell out what school districts must do to accommodate emotionally troubled children. Justices refused to review a case that asked whether Congress intended special help for a student who used drugs and caused problems in his high school.

  • Refused to reinstate a libel case against the Russian daily newspaper Novoye Russkoye Slovo. Lev Navrozov sued the newspaper after he was the subject of columns published in the paper’s opinion section in 1996.

    In the stolen identity case, justices rejected arguments that victims need extra time to sue over damaged credit, but said Congress could reconsider the subject.

    Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said from the bench that Congress imposed a two-year limitation on cases that accuse companies of violating a federal fair credit reporting law,

    “Courts have no warrant to enlarge the exceptions absent a green light turned on by the legislature,” she said.

    Andrews’ identity was stolen by a receptionist at a doctor’s office, her lawyers said. Andrews sued TRW in 1996 for disclosing her credit reports in 1994 and wrongly including a transaction by the impostor in her credit report.

    The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Andrews could sue TRW because the time limit for the case didn’t start until she discovered a problem.

    The Supreme Court, which overturned that, had been told by industry attorneys that companies could not keep records indefinitely in anticipation of lawsuits.

    Consumer advocates, who supported Andrews, argued that the fear of successful lawsuits would force the agencies to police their information more closely and catch identity thieves. The Bush administration also sided with Andrews.

    At least 20 percent of victims of identity theft do not find out about the theft within two years, federal statistics show.

    Congress was told this spring that identity theft has become a national crisis. The number of people victimized may be as high as 750,000 a year, privacy advocates have said.

    The case is TRW v. Andrews, 00-1045.

    Copyright ©2001 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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