Perjury
Perjury is a serious legal offense characterized by the willful act of swearing to the truth of a material statement that the individual knows to be false or does not believe to be true. This crime not only undermines the integrity of the judicial system but also impacts the constitutional rights and due process of defendants, as it can mislead juries and distort the facts of a case. Instances of perjury can occur in various contexts, including courtroom testimonies, false tax returns, and misleading statements to government authorities. Notably, it is reported that perjury may be one of the most frequently committed felonies in the United States, yet it remains one of the least prosecuted crimes.
The legal process for proving perjury can be complex, requiring evidence that clearly demonstrates the individual was under oath and knowingly made a false statement. Moreover, the enforcement of perjury laws is often selective, influenced by factors such as political motives or legal strategy, leading to concerns about fairness and justice. In cases where individuals genuinely believe their statements to be true, legal defenses may apply, complicating the prosecution's task. Overall, the prevalence of perjury poses significant challenges to achieving a just and trustworthy legal system.
On this Page
Subject Terms
Perjury
SIGNIFICANCE: Perjury undercuts the constitutional rights and due process of defendants, denies juries access to facts, and undermines respect for and faith in the criminal justice system.
Perjury is willfully swearing as true any material matter the witness does not believe to be true. Attorney and law professor Alan M. Dershowitz claims that the most frequently committed felonies are perjury and false statements, and that false-statement crimes are the most underprosecuted crimes in the United States. Police officer, witness, and defendant perjury is so commonplace that pundits say cases are often decided on a preponderance of perjury. Perjuries, in addition to trial perjury, include filing false tax returns, making false statements to government authorities, and lies, including lies by omission, in testimony or on official documents.
Perjury represents less than 1 percent of prosecutions, and sentences are often lenient. Perjury enforcement is often for revenge, some political end, legal strategic advantage, or to punish a suspected criminal who is difficult to convict. Suborning perjury is procuring or inciting another to commit perjury, even if no perjury is committed, and is a crime that is rarely prosecuted.
If witnesses believe their claims are true, even if they are not, or do not know that their claims are false, there has been no perjury. This perjury defense encourages police and prosecutors to investigate crimes only to the point where they can attest to enough facts for conviction but not so far as to find contradictory information that negates the facts which police and prosecutors believe to be true. Rather than seeking full and complete truth, police and prosecutors seek only enough attestable facts for conviction.
Proving Perjury
Prosecuting perjury requires the government to prove the person was under oath, that the statement attested to was false, and that the person knew at the time that the testimony was false. The government must have multiple proofs for perjury, such as testimony from more than one witness or other evidence, such as written statements, to support the falsity. Withholding, destroying, or merely failing to collect evidence is a tactic to prevent prosecution for perjury.
Bibliography
Christianson, Scott. Innocent: Inside Wrongful Conviction Cases. New York: New York UP, 2004. Print.
Crank, Stephanie D., and Drew A. Curtis. "And Nothing but the Truth: An Exploration of Perjury." Journal of Police and Criminal Psychology, vol. 38, pp. 83-92, 2023. DOI: 10.1007/s11896-020-09383-1. Accessed 8 July 2024.
Klockers, Carl, Sanja Ivkovic, and Maria Haberfield, eds. The Contours of Police Integrity. Thousand Oaks: Sage, 2004. Print.
Lersch, Kim, ed. Policing and Misconduct. Upper Saddle River: Prentice, 2002. Print.
"Perjury." Cornell Law School Legal Information Institute, Jan. 2024, www.law.cornell.edu/wex/perjury. Accessed 8 July 2024.
Sarat, Austin. Law and Lies Deception and Truth-Telling in the American Legal System. New York: Cambridge UP, 2015. Print.
Shuy, Roger W. The Language of Perjury Cases. New York: Oxford UP, 2011. Print.
United States. Congress. The Consequences of Perjury and Related Crimes: Hearing before the (House) Committee on the Judiciary. Washington: US Government Printing Office, 1998. Print.