What the Heck Were You Thinking?

This is the first time in a while that I've had to say this, but here it is.

This isn't legal advice. I don't want you to rely on this in any way. The best way to avoid criminal liability is to not break the law.

That said, have you ever wondered what the difference is between murder and manslaughter? The difference between "knowing" and that "you should have known?" That sometimes, what you think doesn't matter? (That might not be such a revelation.) Interestingly enough, the entire legal system bases a large part of the law on what can be proven about what someone is thinking at the time of an act. I'm going to write posts in the next week or so about six different "states of mind" that have a place in the law. How lawyers go about proving them is beyond the scope of this blog, but at least I can tell you in broad strokes what they're looking for.

The six states of mind I will write about:

Intent
Knowledge
Recklessness
Criminal negligence
Civil negligence
Strict Liability (i.e. it doesn't matter what you were thinking)