I was going to post about this the other day when I came across it. I didn't because this law is already on the books and is nothing new. What they are doing, which this article clearly explains, is removing a single word "willfully". Now I must say that it is indeed troubling, but I don't believe this is a huge power grab as it's being made out to be.
Quote:
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... for a defendant to have acted willfully, he must merely have “acted with knowledge that his conduct was unlawful.”...we focus our discussion on whether Bursey “willfully” violated the Statute, because, generally, “[m]ore is required” with respect to conduct performed willfully than conduct performed knowingly... requires “more culpable” mens rea than knowing violation).As a general proposition, the statutory term “knowingly” requires the Government to prove only that the defendant had knowledge of the facts underlying the offense
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