United States v. Balint
Citations
- 258 U.S. 250
- 42 S. Ct. 301
- 66 L. Ed. 604
- 1922 U.S. LEXIS 2266
Syllabus
<p>1. IVhether scienter is a necessary element of a statutory crime, ' though not expressed in the statute, is a question of legislative intent to be .answered by a construction of the statute. P. 251.’</p> <p>2. Punishment for an illegal act done by one in ignorance of the facts making it illegal, is not contrary to due process of law. P. 252.</p> <p>3. To constitute the offense of selling drugs contrary to § 2 of the Anti-Narcotie Act, it is not necessary that the seller bé aware of their character. P. 253.</p>
How courts have described this case
Verbatim parenthetical descriptions written by other courts when citing this decision. Ranked by citation-network relevance.
- holding that the general rule requiring proof of criminal intent has been modified for certain statutes that would otherwise be rendered ineffective by such a rule
- stating that traditionally, \ scienter \ was a necessary element in every crime
- stating that traditionally, “scienter” was a necessary element in every crime
- explaining that due process does not require that statutory crimes include a scienter requirement
- affirming conviction for selling narcotics with no evidence that defendants knew they were selling narcotics
- affirming conviction for selling narcotics with no evidence that defendants knew they were selling narcotics
Source: CourtListener parenthetical corpus (CC0).
Judges: Taft, Clarke
Read full opinion on CourtListenerSourced from CourtListener / Free Law Project (CC0).
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