How Michigan and Ohio Made It Harder to Accidentally Break the Law

Proponents of mens rea say a "criminal intent" requirement serves as a guard against overcriminalization by protecting people from accidentally breaking the law.

Josh Siegel, --January 28, 2016

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The Criminal Justice Committee was always an odd fit for Rep. Ed McBroom, a state lawmaker and dairy farmer representing a rural area of Michigan. During his last term on the committee, McBroom, a Republican, was schooled on a criminal justice topic he had never heard of before, but on this one, few could blame him. Rep. Rose Mary Robinson, a Democratic lawmaker and defense attorney from Detroit, would frequently want to know what the “mens rea” standards were for the state’s thousands of criminal laws and regulations. More...

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