Federal law requires that all banks file reports with the IRS any time a customer engages in a cash transaction in an amount over $10,000. It is a crime for a bank to “structure” a cash...

Federal law requires that all banks file reports with the IRS any time a customer engages in a cash transaction in an amount over $10,000. It is a crime for a bank to “structure” a cash transaction—that is, to break up a single transaction of more than $10,000 into two or more smaller transactions (and thus avoid the filing requirement). In Ratzlaf v. United States, 510 U.S. 135, 114 S. Ct. 655, 1994 U.S. LEXIS 936 (1994), the Supreme Court held that in order to find a defendant guilty of structuring, the government must prove that he specifically intended to break the law—that is, that he knew what he was doing was a crime and meant to commit it. Congress promptly passed a law “undoing” Ratzlaf. A bank official can now be convicted on evidence that he structured a payment, even with no evidence that he knew it was a crime. The penalties are harsh. (1) Why is structuring so serious? (2) Why did Congress change the law about the defendant’s intent?