Warning

Info

Table of Contents
Chris22, HLS '22 |

0 0

Back to briefs

United States v. X-Citement Video, Inc.

(1994)

Supreme Court of the United States - 513 U.S. 64

tl;dr:

A child pornography statute that was ambiguous as to which elements required knowledge was interpreted by the Supreme Court to require mens rea for each element.

Video Summary

ICRAIssue, Conclusion, Rule, Analysis for United States v. X-Citement Video, Inc.

LSD+ exclusive

This content is exclusively for LSD+ users.

Sign up for LSD+ for full access to the United States v. X-Citement Video, Inc. case brief summary.

Enjoy unlimited access with our 14-day free trial.

Facts & HoldingUnited States v. X-Citement Video, Inc. case brief facts & holding

Facts:The defendant, the owner of X-Citement videos, was charged under...

Holding:The Court reversed the Ninth Circuit, holding that the word...

LSD+ exclusive

This content is exclusively for LSD+ users.

Sign up for LSD+ for full access to the United States v. X-Citement Video, Inc. case brief summary.

Enjoy unlimited access with our 14-day free trial.

DeepDiveHighlight a legal term to see the definition

Font size -+
United States v. X-Citement Video, Inc. | Case Brief DeepDive
Majority opinion, author: Chief Justice Rehnquist
Level 1
Click below 👇 to DeepDive

The Supreme Court reversed the Ninth Circuit's decision that the Protection of Children Against Sexual Exploitation Act of 1977 was facially unconstitutional. The Court determined that the term "knowingly" in Title 18 U.S.C. § 2252 modifies the phrase "the use of a minor" and implies some form of scienter. The Court is cautious about relying solely on the grammatical reading of a statute, especially in criminal cases, and has previously interpreted criminal statutes to include a broad scienter requirement. The Court rejected the argument that the statute described a public welfare offense and emphasized the harsh penalties attached to violations of the statute as a significant consideration in determining whether the statute should be construed as dispensing with mens rea.

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.

LSD+ exclusive

This content is exclusively for LSD+ users.

Sign up for LSD+ for full access to the United States v. X-Citement Video, Inc. case brief summary.

Enjoy unlimited access with our 14-day free trial.

Opinion (Concurrence), author: Justice Stevens,Justice Scalia
Level 1
Click below 👇 to DeepDive

Justice Stevens argues that the term "knowingly" in a criminal statute modifies each element of the offense identified in the subsection. However, Justice Scalia and Justice Thomas disagree with this opinion, stating that the cases cited as authority do not support interpreting an explicit statutory scienter requirement in a manner that its language cannot bear. The Ninth Circuit's interpretation of 18 U.S.C. § 2252 is the only grammatical reading of the statute, which does not require knowledge of the fact that the visual depiction portrays sexually explicit conduct or that a participant in that conduct was a minor. The doctrine of "scrivener's error" cannot be used to rewrite a statute or correct a technical mistake in criminal cases where the meaning intended but inadequately expressed is not absolutely clear. The legislative history of the bill suggests that the requirement of scienter does not extend to the age of performers in cases involving sexually explicit conduct. The scienter requirement applies to the element of the crime that the depiction be of sexually explicit conduct, but not to the element that the depiction involves the use of a minor engaging in such conduct. It is important to note that Justice Stevens' argument may be in error as it contradicts what Congress has specifically prescribed regarding criminal intent.

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.

LSD+ exclusive

This content is exclusively for LSD+ users.

Sign up for LSD+ for full access to the United States v. X-Citement Video, Inc. case brief summary.

Enjoy unlimited access with our 14-day free trial.

🤯 High points 🤯Key points contributed by students on LSD

LSD+ exclusive

This content is exclusively for LSD+ users.

Sign up for LSD+ for full access to the United States v. X-Citement Video, Inc. case brief summary.

Enjoy unlimited access with our 14-day free trial.

LSD+ Case Briefs

Features

  • DeepDive for detailed case analysis
  • Over 50,000 existing case briefs
  • Instant briefs for another 6,000,000 cases
  • Highlight dictionary for legal term definitions
  • Social learning with chat and high points

Over 50,000 Cases Briefed

LSD+ gives you access to over 50,000 case briefs, more than anyone else. Be the first to email us the website of a case brief product that offers you more case briefs and we'll give you a free year of LSD+.

14-Day Free Trial

Unlimited access. Read as much content as you want during your trial with no device limitations. Cancel any time during your trial and keep access for the full 14 days.

Integrated Legal Dictionary

Lawyers and judges love to use big words. And Latin, for some reason.

Highlight a legal term in LSD Briefs and get an instant, plain English definition. Try highlighting contract or specific performance. No need to search or read through a list of definitions, simply highlight the words you don’t know and our LSDefine integration will instantly give you a definition to any of over 30,000 legal terms.

DeepDive

DeepDive allows you to explore legal cases like never before. DeepDive offers multiple levels of case summaries, which empowers you to quickly and easily find the information you need to stay on top of readings. Easily navigate through summary levels and click on any text to get more detail, all the way down to the original legal case text.

Brief anything. Instantly.

Our proprietary state-of-the-art system can instantly brief over 6,000,000 US cases. That means we can probably brief that case that your professor assigned last night when she sent you a poorly scanned pdf and told you to read every third paragraph. Or maybe she uploaded it to Canvas and didn’t really tell you to read it, but you know you probably should. Tenure does wild things to good people.

Social Learning with Chat and High Points

Study groups are a great way to learn and explore a case. LSD has chat rooms for each case to let you ask questions across the community and hear what other students struggled with and how they put it all together. Learn the key points of every case from other LSD+ users and share your knowledge with LSD High Points.

Real-Time Brief Feedback

Don’t settle for mistakes in briefs that have been there for 10 years and never fixed. Find an issue or something missing from a brief? Down vote and we will make improvements. All of our case brief editors graduated from from T14 law schools.

United States v. X-Citement Video, Inc.

Chat for United States v. X-Citement Video, Inc.
brief-683
👍 Chat vibe: 0 👎
Help us make LSD better!
Tell us what's important to you
LSD+ is ad-free, with DMs, discounts, case briefs & more.