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75 Brook. L. Rev. 409 (2009-2010)
Interpreting Intent: How Research on Folk Judgments of Intentionality Can Inform Statutory Analysis

handle is hein.journals/brklr75 and id is 413 raw text is: Interpreting Intent HOW RESEARCH ON FOLK JUDGMENTS OF INTENTIONALITY CAN INFORM STATUTORY ANALYSIS Julia Kobick & Joshua Knobet On May 4, 2009, the Supreme Court released its opinion in Shell Oil Co. v. United States.' The case was not only an important one in environmental law, but it also raised a number of complex conceptual issues. In particular, the Court found that it had to make a difficult decision about the relationship between liability and intentionality. The facts of the case were as follows: Shell Oil Co. contracted to sell a hazardous pesticide to an independent chemical distribution company Shell knew that some of the pesticide would inevitably end up leaking or spilling as it was being transferred into the distribution company's holding tanks, but Shell was not actively trying to make the pesticide leak Its goal was just to sell and transport the pesticide. In other words, Shell had the knowledge that its actions would be leading to pesticide leaks, but its purpose was not to create these leaks, but rather to sell a useful product. Predictably, the dangerous pesticide regularly leaked during transfer, leading to extensive soil and groundwater contamination.' The Environmental Protection Agency spent $8 million cleaning up the environmental damage and sued the parties connected to the environmental harm, including Shell, for remediation costs.' t Julia Kobick, J.D. Candidate, Harvard Law School. Joshua Knobe, Assistant Professor, Program in Cognitive Science and Department of Philosophy, Yale University. Thanks to Richard Lazarus, Fiery Cushman, Adam Kolber and Neal Feigenson for their insightful comments. 1 Burlington N. & Santa Fe Ry. v. United States (Shell Oil Co.), 129 S. Ct. 1870 (2009). 2 Id. at 1874-75. 3 See id. at 1875. 4 Id. 5 Id. at 1876. 409

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