the.com/perjury
the art of lying so badly you upgrade a misdemeanor into a felony
means The criminal act of deliberately lying under oath after swearing to tell the truth, typically in court or a sworn statement.
from From Latin 'periurium,' a false oath, built from 'per-' (here meaning 'to the detriment of,' a twisting or breaking) plus 'iurare,' to swear — the same 'iurare' that gives us 'jury,' 'just,' and 'justice.' So baked into the word is the idea of an oath gone wrong: you don't just lie, you lie across or against your own sworn word. It reached English through Old French 'parjurie,' carrying the sense of a vow shattered the moment it left your lips.
- oath required
- Lies only count after you swear to tell truth
- rarely charged
- Prosecutors pursue a tiny fraction of clear cases
- material only
- The lie must actually matter to the case
- ancient crime
- Roman law punished false witnesses by death
- two-witness rule
- Federal perjury once needed two people to prove
martha stewart trial — convicted of perjury and conspiracy in 2004 for lying about insider trading stock sales
clinton impeachment — president bill clinton impeached by house in 1998 for perjury in paula jones lawsuit deposition