Willful Blindness as Mere Evidence

Abstract

The willful blindness doctrine at criminal law is well-established and generally fits with moral intuitions of guilt. It also stands in direct tension with the first principle of American criminal law: legality. This Article argues that courts could largely preserve the doctrine and entirely avoid the legality problem with a simple shift: willful blindness ought to be re-conceptualized as a form of evidence.

Keywords: Willful Blindness, Criminal Law, White Collar, Evidence, Legality, Knowledge, Mens Rea, Epistemology