zlacker

>>gruseo+(OP)
As a person with essentially libertarian views, this is a very interesting article. I may be too quick to applaud this article because it supports my own views, but I think it raises a number of legitimate concerns. In particular, I was struck by this point: In many criminal cases, the common-law requirement that a defendant must have a mens rea (ie, he must or should know that he is doing wrong) has been weakened or erased. This is a slope that we have been sliding down for some time. While ignorance of the law has generally been excluded as a defense in criminal cases, our system of laws is becoming so convoluted that it is almost impossible to know and understand the applicable law. Thus we are all at risk. It feels like we keep inching closer to a society where everyone is either a dependent of the state, or at risk of becoming one through regulation and/or prosecution.

>>Alex63+46
I find it hard to believe that quoted statement. Although I am not an American, I think the legal system of America is very much based on the British system, thus there are very many similarities.

I think judges are very resistant to anything which tries to undermine the principle of intent. If a statute does not make it absolutely clear that the crime is of strict liability, then even the most general words would be interpreted as requiring intent in criminal cases.

Without intending something the government has no legitimacy to imprison the person in most cases. Its a fundamental principle. So, if you are going to make such a big statement concerning the fundamental principle of the criminal law, the least the article could have done is to give some examples, or to give a reference to some journal which documents such "weakening".

As they have not bothered to do either, I would take it as a generalised opinion perhaps with very little basis.