Introduction
The criminal law, in accordance with the defined set of procedural rules and limitations, is enforced by the criminal justice system. The criminal justice system is a set of legal and social institutions that provides a way for people to be held liable and be punished for their act of committing violations against the law. There is always the hope that charged criminals can be rehabilitated and placed back into society and safely live alongside fellow citizens, but it is the responsibility of law enforcement personnel in many areas within the criminal justice system (i.e. police officers, judges, etc.) to serve and protect the public. In this system there is a requirement that those who commit crimes have some sort of criminal intent for most crimes. Notice I said “most”; not all crimes require criminal intent. The criminal justice system includes a term ‘mens rea’, which is often referred to as a ‘guilty mind’; therein mens rea refers to the thoughts or intentions of an actor behind a criminal act. The criminal act that most commonly looks to the mens rea of an offender is that of murder. Mens rea does not apply to all crimes, but I feel it is necessary and would provide continuity and standardization in enforcing justice for all if it did.
The American Law Institute (ALI) is a non-governmental organization of highly regarded judges, lawyers and law professors in the United States. This Institute typically composes restatements of different areas of law that will express and rationalize the governing rules in American jurisdictions. Members of the ALI created a statutory text called the Model Penal Code (MPC). It is likely one of the most important developments in American law and likely the most important influence on American Criminal Law. While it is not law, it offers a comprehensive revision of the criminal law, thereby creating a model of many state criminal codes. Conceived as a way to standardize and organize the...