Document Type

Article

Publication Title

Texas Law Review

Publication Date

5-1992

Abstract

Wilful ignorance is employed in criminal law primarily, and most controversially, as a mental state that satisfies a required mens rea of knowledge. The practice of considering wilful ignorance a form of, or a substitute for, knowledge first appeared in and has evolved almost exclusively through case law, with little or no critical analysis. Courts now routinely read wilful ignorance-in all its various and sundry formulations-into statutes requiring knowledge, and they usually do so without any attempt to justify the practice as an exercise in statutory interpretation or a search for legislative intent.

Share

COinS
 
 

To view the content in your browser, please download Adobe Reader or, alternately,
you may Download the file to your hard drive.

NOTE: The latest versions of Adobe Reader do not support viewing PDF files within Firefox on Mac OS and if you are using a modern (Intel) Mac, there is no official plugin for viewing PDF files within the browser window.