perjury
Definitions from Case Law · United States Supreme Court
Definitions from Case Law
From 346 U.S. 374 - United States v. Debrow · 1953Most cited · 1,600 citing opinions
elements
The essential elements of the crime of perjury as defined in 18 U.S.C. § 1621 are (1) an oath authorized by law of the United States, (2) taken before a competent tribunal, officer or person, and (3) a false statement wilfully made as to facts material to the hearing.
How the Supreme Court has restated “perjury”
Each Supreme Court definition of “perjury,” sized by how often later courts cited it. “Change” is measured by wording overlap with earlier definitions — a rough signal, not a semantic judgment.
How often courts cite the cases defining “perjury”
Court decisions citing the 4 opinions that defined “perjury” — 2,123 in all, by decade. Counts are citations to the defining cases as a whole, not verified uses of the term. The dip in the most recent years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the latest years.
All 4 definitions, chronological · 1927–1958
- ORIGINAL
The crime of perjury is complete when the oath is taken with the necessary intent, although the false affidavit is never used.
Deliberate material falsification under oath constitutes the crime of perjury and the crime is complete when a witness' statement has once been made.
The essential elements of the crime of perjury as defined in 18 U.S.C. § 1621 are (1) an oath authorized by a law of the United States, (2) taken before a competent tribunal, officer or person, and (3) a false statement wilfully made as to facts material to the hearing.