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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
6 pages in length. A comprehensive discussion of Mens Rea, the legal principle upon which we base our requirement of intent for a finding of guilty. Covered in this report are the meaning, background, and a brief history of Mens Rea in law as well as a more in-depth analysis of Mens Rea as applied to insanity pleas, hate crimes, etc; Bibliography lists 5 sources.
Page Count:
6 pages (~225 words per page)
File: D0_Mensrea.doc
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Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
Anglo-American criminal justice to denote the element of criminal intent in an offense. According to my research, all legal systems require a showing for most crimes that the criminal intended
to commit a crime. In Anglo-American law, a criminal act is categorized in one of four ways, accordingly. An offender who acts "purposely" has an actual and conscious intent to
commit a crime; "knowingly," is aware that the conduct will cause a crime; "recklessly," has a conscious disregard that the conduct may have criminal consequences; "negligently," acts with inadvertence to
possible criminal harm to others (Arkin, 1985). As defined by United States contemporary law, a crime includes both the act, or "actus rea," as well as the
intent to commit the act, or mens rea. Criminal intent involves an intellectual apprehension of factual elements of the act or acts commanded or enjoined by the law. It is
usually inferred from the apparently voluntary commission of an overt act (Arkins, 1985). Consequently, many defenses attempt to show that their was no genuine mens rea in the
form of showing that the actus rea was involuntary as in the case below. II. Mens Rea & The Insanity Defense Criminal liability is relieved in the case of
insanity. Legal minors are also relieved of criminal liability, as are persons subjected to coercion or duress to such a degree as to render the commission of criminal acts involuntary.
Groups such as the American Medical Association have in principle supported the concept that the insanity defense in criminal trials should be replaced by statutes that provide for acquittal
and appropriate commitment under the mens rea rule, since it holds that a defendant, through mental disease or defect, lacks the state of mind required as an element of
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