united-states oregon
Is there such a thing as an illegal thought?
<p>Obviously, without a person saying or doing something, it is impossible to know what they are thinking, so they couldn't be prosecuted, but are there any things that are illegal to think about in the US/Oregon? Of course, if there are, the answer would have to be just &quot;yes,&quot; because giving or reading examples would be illegal.</p>

<p>There are not &quot;illegal thoughts&quot; in the abstract, but what you are thinking can make the difference between something being a crime or a basis for bringing a lawsuit, and actions being non-criminal or not a basis for any legal liability.</p>
<p>If you fire someone because they are black, you've engaged in actionable employment discrimination. If you fire the same person, in the same circumstances, because you've noticed that they were late to work by 10 minutes every day this month but recorded their hours as if they came on time, you've acted legally.</p>
<p>If you shoot someone in bear suit hovering over your toddler in your backyard at twilight believing it is a bear, you haven't committed a crime. If you realize that the person in the bear suit is your husband playing a prank and shoot anyway, you are guilty of aggravated assault or attempted murder if he lives, and murder if he doesn't.</p>
<p>If you buy a $200 refrigerator thinking that it's a bankruptcy fire sale price, you are not guilty of anything. But, if you know that the refrigerator was stolen because you hear the store owner talking about it in the back room, you are committing the crime of trafficking in stolen goods if you buy it.</p>
<p>If you record a song because it just comes to you when you've never heard it before, you haven't infringed a copyright. But if you've heard it (at least if you remember it) and then record it, you've infringed the copyright in the song (assuming you don't get permission to do so and the copyright is still valid, etc.).</p>
<p>What a person committing an act is thinking is part of what must be proven in court for someone to be guilty or liable in the case of all but a small minority of crimes and torts (i.e. civil wrongs which can be the basis of a lawsuit). Often, the element that involves what you are thinking as one part of a case that must be established in court is described with the latin phrase <em><a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/mens_rea" rel="nofollow noreferrer">mens rea</a></em> (which translates literally as &quot;guilty mind&quot;).</p>
<p>Conversely, sometimes thoughts are not crimes or torts unless there are actions taken in connection with the thoughts.</p>
<p>If you carefully plan out a murder, but take no concrete actions to carry out your plan, you haven't committed a crime or tort. But, if you have planned out a murder and take significant affirmative acts to carry it out, you've committed attempted murder, even if those acts might not have constituted attempted murder if you took those actions for purposes unrelated to a plan to commit a murder.</p>
<p>Similarly, if you imagine a seven year old having sex with you in your head, you haven't committed a crime (although if you are a sex offender, doing so might prevent you from receiving parole), but if you download or make a video depicting that act, you've committed a crime.</p>
