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Mens Rea In Minnesota And The Model Penal Code, Ted Sampsell-Jones
Mens Rea In Minnesota And The Model Penal Code, Ted Sampsell-Jones
Symposium: 50th Anniversary of the Minnesota Criminal Code-Looking Back and Looking Forward
When Minnesota engaged in the great reform and recodification effort that led to the Criminal Code of 1963, it was part of a nationwide reform movement. That movement was spurred in large part by the American Law Institute and its Model Penal Code. The Minnesota drafters were influenced by the MPC, and at least in some areas, adopted MPC recommendations.
The MPC’s most significant innovation was in the law of mens rea—the body of law concerning the mental state or “guilty mind” necessary for criminal liability. The MPC drafters recognized that the common law of mens rea was fundamentally incoherent …