Main Content
Commonwealth v. Alvarez
But sometimes a legislature expressly declines to provide any mens rea for a given element. The prosecution still has to prove the element, but just not prove that the defendant knew or otherwise had some mens rea with respect to that element.
Commonwealth v. Alvarez provides an example. The defendant argued it was unfair to punish him for something he was unaware of, but the court said the legislature had the power to do so. You can also discern from the case why a legislature might want to provide no mens rea for a particular element--i.e., make the crime strict liability as to that element.
This book, and all H2O books, are Creative Commons licensed for sharing and re-use with the exception of certain excerpts. Any excerpts from the Restatements of the Law, Principles of the Law, and the Model Penal Code are copyright by The American Law Institute. Excerpts are reproduced with permission, not as part of a Creative Commons license.