2 ms·
Your comment really shows how far we've slid away from the Mens Rea requirement in law. It used to be that every major crime required an intent component. Where
by slededit 9y ago
Your comment really shows how far we've slid away from the Mens Rea requirement in law. It used to be that every major crime required an intent component. Where the crime was serious enough we had lesser punishments where there was no intent (e.g. manslaughter vs murder).
In the old days it was unfathomable you could be locked up for something you didn't know was a crime.
- Xylakant 9y ago> In the old days it was unfathomable you could be locked up for something you didn't know was a crime. This pretty much has never been true, at least in Germany. "Unwissenheit schützt vor Strafe nicht". Even the Roman Law didn't excuse for lack of knowledge https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ignorantia_legis_non_excusat https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ignorantia_legis_non_excusat There are edge cases where you may escape punishment (Verbotsirrtum) but only if it was unavoidable that you erred. Involuntarily distributing child porn may carry lesser punishment, but it will certainly be investigate unless you can assert a privilege such as common carrier status or inability to control the transmission, as for example Tor nodes could.