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Strict Liability
Thus far, we have seen courts struggle with how to explain to juries what mens rea is required by a particular statute and how to instruct a jury as to the meaning of that mens rea term. In this section, we turn to those rare instances where the law imposes criminal sanction even in the absence of a culpable mental state. These so-called strict liability offenses are controversial; courts are reluctant to determine that the legislature intended to impose liability without fault and the MPC has rejected strict liability all together.
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