Introduced
by
To establish that in any new law creating a criminal offense enacted after Jan. 1, 2015, if the law does not indicate whether a “culpable mental state” (“mens rea”) is required to establish guilt, the presumption will be that this <i>is</i> required, meaning that prosecutors must show that the defendant violated the law “purposely, knowingly or recklessly.” If a new criminal law does require a culpable mental state, the bill would require this be shown for “each material element of the offense.” Under current law, many complex “administrative” offenses authorize criminal penalties for actions that a regular person would not know are illegal.
Referred to the Committee on Judiciary
