Thursday, April 11, 2013
Mens Rea ?
Today in class we were discussing the thought of mens rea and it's position in the law. From my understanding the concept of mens rea is essentially being able to determine if the person committing the action is guilty at mind. Please correct me if my understanding is wrong. It seems to me that mens rea is needed in a society but its usage prevents the society from being progressive. For my paper what I would like my thesis to explain is why mens rea hinders our society because it does not ultimately help the individual, it leaves a continuous cycle that eventually needs to be dealt with. What suggestions do you have that can support the argument that mens rea is a double standard in society that should be subject to revisions in order to retain autonomy?
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I think taking seriously the notion of "corrective" justice can help extinguish the cyclical nature of mens rea. I actually elaborated on this idea in my own post!
ReplyDeleteCheck out the Model Penal Code developed by Herbert Wechsler if you’re not already familiar. He considers other factors, or levels of mens rea, such as "purposely", "knowingly," "recklessly, and "negligently". I think autonomy is key here; does criminal behavior negate, in degrees, autonomy? How much freedom, if any, is absolute?
ReplyDeleteYou may have a point that mens rea may sometimes hinder our society because it leaves room for much interpretation in certain cases. However, I think it is very difficult to find a better way to go about determining how someone should be brought to justice than mens rea. IN class on Thursday, I believe it was Raj who pointed out the problems with strict liability. if you kill someone in order to prevent yourself or a lived one from dying, the circumstance would not make a difference, you would be convicted of first degree murder. There is a difference between that type of circumstance and one of premeditated murder, but without mens rea the law may not recognize that. I personally believe that mens rea is necessary for a society. Is there an alternative method you would argue for a society to use instead of mens rea?
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