The following excerpt is from U.S. v. Reyes, 302 F.3d 48 (2nd Cir. 2002):
[t]he substantive justification for the rule is that deliberate ignorance and positive knowledge are equally culpable. The textual justification is that in common understanding one "knows" facts of which he is less than absolutely certain. To act "knowingly," therefore, is not necessarily to act only with positive knowledge, but also to act with an awareness of the high probability of the existence of the fact in question. When such awareness is present, "positive" knowledge is not required.
This is the analysis adopted in the Model Penal Code.
United States v. Jewell, 532 F.2d 697, 700 (9th Cir.1976) (en banc).
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