Mess Rea

The disarray of the law on criminal mental state is in need of clarification and reform. Mens rea requires that culpability attach to each element of an offense before a defendant can be punished. This requirement has deep common law roots stretching back to medieval times. However, judicial and prosecutorial subjectivity has tainted the doctrine with a quagmire of unclarity.

The Model Penal Code attempted to organize this messy doctrine, but it was never adopted by the federal government. In frustration with the labyrinth of federal mens rea law, which can contain conflicting definitions or none at all, the Supreme Court frequently turns to the MPC for guidance. This Note compares the MPC approach to English and American common law precedents and determines that the MPC departed from the historical common law insofar as it relaxed mens rea protections. Due to the disorganized nature of federal mens rea law, the Supreme Court is likely to continue relying on the MPC.

If this practice indeed continues, then the Court should use the MPC mental state of knowingly to separate culpable from non-culpable conduct because knowingly best represents the common law concept of mens rea and provides principled clarity to courts, prosecutors, and defendants.