Who Says Intent Doesn't Matter? It Matters a LOT
Ray wasn't looking for trouble. Joyce wasn't looking for trouble, either.
Ray was just out in the park, checking out the morning sunshine, looking at the birds fly from tree to tree. A lot of people in the city, so some time in the park was always a part of his morning routine.
Joyce was simply walking her dog. It was a tiny dog and well-trained so she liked to get to the park, unleash him, and let him roam around. She kept an eye out in case he dropped a deuce. No one wants to step in dogshit, right?
Ray noticed the unleashed dog before he saw Joyce. "…goddamn dog owners." he mumbled under his breath. Then he saw Joyce.
"Excuse me. You need to leash your animal. It's the law."
"Oh. He's alright. He doesn't bite."
"That's not the point. You need to leash your dog."
"Are you a law enforcement officer?"
"No."
"Then please mind your own business."
Ray was determined not to mind his own business, though. Her tone annoyed him. Her sense of entitlement crawled right up his ass and he was going to teach this woman a lesson. He knew that the newest form of public punishment was a smartphone video—catching her in the act and broadcasting it—so he pulled out his phone and started filming.
Joyce saw the phone and knew she was now being threatened with public embarrassment. For most people, the threat of being filmed and exposed to online ridicule is serious. Careers are ended. Marriages destroyed.
"Stop that. I don't give you permission to film me!"
"I don't need your permission. Now tell us why you think you shouldn't have to leash your dog?"
Ray started to follow her around the park with his phone. She was trapped and decided to call the police.
"911? There is a man harassing me with a phone in the park." Joyce realized how silly that sounded but she was escalating in her anger so she decided to amp up her charge to actually scare Ray. "I'm being threatened in the park by A BLACK MAN!"
Joyce had crossed the line. Ray knew she had so he kept filming. She doubled down because her threat to have Ray arrested didn't work as he continued to film her.
Ray intended to get a stranger to follow a minor law in a park. Joyce intended to get Ray to leave her alone.
But intent doesn't matter, does it?
In a courtroom, intent is a key factor that must be proven in order to prosecute someone for a criminal act. Known as mens rea, a prosecutor must prove the defendant meant to do what they did. According to the Cornell Law School Legal Information Institute, “the mens rea requirement is premised upon the idea that one must possess a guilty state of mind and be aware of his or her misconduct.”
The Model Penal Code recognizes four different levels of mens rea:
purpose—a person acting with the intent their action will cause a certain result.
knowledge—a person acting knowingly that their conduct will cause a certain result.
recklessness—a person being aware there is a substantial risk of a certain result.
negligence—a person who should have been aware of a substantial risk of a certain result.
Intermingled with intent is the question of whether the mistake was an accurate indicator of the offending person’s beliefs and values as opposed to ignorance, a lapse in judgement, a misunderstanding or just a plain mistake.
It occurs to me that the argument that intent doesn't matter and only impact should be considered is a deeply cynical perspective. It relies heavily on the idea that people are malevolent scumbags, always looking to harm in every interaction.
The Book says that assumptions make an ass out of everyone and the Intent Doesn't Matter argument is completely subservient to assumptions.
When a black teen runs from police, the assumption from police is that he is running because he is guilty of something. Perhaps he is only guilty of being afraid for his life which is also an assumption the kid is making about the intent of the cops.
It is assumed that the guy who cut you off in traffic did it on purpose rather than simply not seeing you.
It is assumed that the older woman haggling with the Walmart check out worker over the price of a smock is somehow a grifter rather than on a budget and doing the best she can with the money she has.
In one of the myriad "I Believes..." I've written over the years, one stands out in this writing: "I believe... that most people are not against you but rather for themselves."
Most people are not against you...
The argument that intent doesn't matter is predicated on the assumption that everyone is against you, that every interaction is steeped in greed or bias or competition.
This is not to say that impact doesn't matter. Of course it does. I do intend to say that intent is, at the very least, equal to impact when determining guilt or culpability.
I'm guilty of making assumptions as well but I'm going to try to assume the best intentions when I have no individual frame of reference and only a broad understanding of the situation.
It's the fucking very least I can do.
