825 F.Supp. 485.
Dressler, p. 131-132
Rule: A wrongdoer’s state of mind is to be taken into
account when deciding whether punishment is appropriate and how much to mete
out.
Notes and Questions
1.
Mens
rea has a broad meaning and a
narrow meaning. The broad meaning is “guilty
mind”. The narrow meaning is the mental
state required to find someone guilty of an offense. You might have some general kind of guilty
mind but still not be found guilty of an offense because you didn’t have the “right
type” of guilty mind.
2.
Why
do we require a guilty mind or criminal intent? Why might utilitarians require a guilty
mind? Utilitarians would find it
inefficient to punish conduct that cannot be deterred. If something is done by accident, punishment
would only add to societal harm. Retributivists
find it reprehensible to punish the innocent, and one type of innocent person
is one who is innocent of criminal intent.
I’m a little confused whether lack of mens rea equals “accident”
or “mistake”, or if, on the other hand, mistake is only one possibility among
others, or if lack of mens rea implies something altogether different.