NYT Reporting [Was: Vietnam and What else Blumenthal said]

[Baker, John M.]

        You're thinking of mens rea, the criminal intent (or
recklessness) that was an essential element of all crimes at common law.
The other essential element was actus reus, the wrongful deed.  Under
modern penal statutes, many crimes are strict liability crimes that do
not require a showing of mens rea.

        However, a closer parallel is to a similar but not identical
concept:  scienter, a mental state consisting in an intent to deceive,
manipulate, or defraud.  Again, recklessness may also suffice.  Scienter
is a required element of securities fraud claims under Rule 10b-5.


John Baker


-----Original Message-----
From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf
Of Joel S. Berson
Sent: Friday, May 21, 2010 2:57 PM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: Re: NYT Reporting [Was: Vietnam and What else Blumenthal said]

At 5/21/2010 01:27 PM, Mullins, Bill AMRDEC wrote:

>Your idea of what a lie is is different than mine.  To me, there must
me
>an attempt to deceive before it could be characterized as a lie.
>Otherwise, it's just a misstatement or a mistake.

The same is true of many crimes, for which a conscious intent to
commit the act must be proven.

Joel

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org