Also known as: specific/general intent dichotomy · specific intent vs. general intent · specific intent · general intent · mens rea distinction
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A doctrinal distinction in criminal law classifying offenses as requiring either specific intent, meaning a purpose to achieve a further result, or general intent, meaning only the intention to commit the actus reus.
Sebastian Santos offered cash to Solomon Silver to start a fight with a critic at a festival so security would eject the critic before a review. Santos gave detailed instructions on location and timing. The prosecution must prove Santos acted with the purpose that Silver commit the assault rather than mere approval of disruption.
Sabrina Shah led meetings urging members to prepare for violent revolution when conditions allowed. Prosecutors introduced evidence of disciplined planning and coded language. The court examined whether Shah possessed the purpose to bring about the overthrow rather than abstract discussion of political change.
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Steven Silva took surplus military supplies from a base believing they were abandoned. He sold the items for personal gain. The jury had to decide whether Silva harbored the purpose to permanently deprive the owner or merely intended the physical taking.
Executives at Sapphire Holdings and Spectrum Financial coordinated pricing formulas for building materials. The companies raised prices in tandem after the discussions. The government had to establish that the executives acted with the conscious object to restrain trade rather than merely knowing the likely effect.
Seth Shapiro entered a store intending to steal cash and struck the clerk who resisted. The clerk died from the blow. The jury instruction required proof that Shapiro formed the purpose to kill during the robbery rather than only intending the underlying theft.
Samantha Stone, an Amish employer, refused to withhold Social Security taxes from employees on religious grounds. The government assessed penalties for the failure to withhold. The court considered whether Stone acted with the purpose to violate the tax law or merely followed religious conviction without that specific aim.
Voluntary intoxication can negate the mental state for specific intent crimes but provides no defense to general intent crimes. The distinction turns on whether the offense requires a purpose beyond the act itself.
Solicitation demands that the defendant act with the specific intent that the solicited person commit the crime. General approval or agreement with the conduct is insufficient.
Courts distinguish abstract advocacy from speech directed at producing imminent lawless action. The speaker must intend to incite the conduct rather than merely endorse it in general terms.
Common law arson requires malice shown by intent to burn or conscious disregard of a substantial risk. No specific intent to burn a dwelling or motive of ill will is needed.
…(1965), limits the discretion of the Board of Building Code Appeals to grant variances to those which are "in harmony with the general intent of such ordinance . . . ." If one of the legitimate objectives of the definition of "family" was to preserve the single (nuclear) family character of East Cleveland, then granting this…