Message #30762

[Jitendra Hydonus]

The Trump administration's appalling pattern of ignoring climate risks reminds me of a case I once handled as a federal prosecutor.  The defendant was a young woman who had shipped 10 pounds of crack cocaine across state lines after her aunt had handed her the wrapped package, which bore no return address, and a wad of cash for the "favor" and watched from a safe distance. The woman's defense?  Her aunt had never told her what was in the package.

Before the judge sent the jury off to reach a verdict, he instructed that "willful blindness" was no defense. In other words, the defendant could not escape liability by intentionally avoiding learning the facts. The jury returned a verdict of guilty.

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