Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/23pdf/23-939_e2pg.pdf
Page Number: 100

Cite as:  603 U. S. ____ (2024) 

3 

JACKSON, J., dissenting 

II 
A 
These foundational presuppositions are reflected in a pro-
cedural paradigm of rules and accountability that operates
in the realm of criminal law—what I would call an individ-
ual accountability model.

The  basic  contours  of  that  model  are  familiar,  because 
they manifest in every criminal case.  Criminal law starts 
with an act of the legislature, which holds the power “to de-
fine a crime, and ordain its punishment.”  United States v. 
Wiltberger, 5 Wheat. 76, 95 (1820); accord, Ohio v. Johnson, 
467  U. S.  493,  499  (1984).    Criminal  statutes  are  laws  of 
general applicability that express “the assent of the people’s 
representatives” that certain conduct is off limits in our so-
ciety.  Wooden v. United States, 595 U. S. 360, 391 (2022) 
(GORSUCH, J., concurring in judgment). 

When the Federal Government believes that someone has 
run  afoul  of  a  criminal  statute  and  decides  to  exercise  its 
prosecutorial discretion to pursue punishment for that vio-
lation,  it  persuades  a  grand  jury  that  there  is  probable 
cause to indict.  U. S. Const., Amdt. 5.  Then, the Govern-
ment  marshals  evidence  to  prove  beyond  a  reasonable
doubt that the defendant engaged in the prohibited conduct 
and  possessed  the  requisite  state  of  mind.   See  United 
States v. Bailey, 444 U. S. 394, 402 (1980) (observing that,
to  hold  a  person  criminally  liable,  “the  concurrence  of  . . . 
‘an evil-meaning mind [and] an evil-doing hand’ ” must be 
proved (quoting Morissette v. United States, 342 U. S. 246, 
251 (1952))).

For  his  part,  the  defendant  “stands  accused  but  is  pre-
sumed innocent until conviction upon trial or guilty plea.” 
Betterman v. Montana, 578 U. S. 437, 441 (2016).  Notably,
criminal  defendants  have  various  constitutionally  pro-
tected  rights  during  the  criminal-liability  process,  includ-
ing the rights to a speedy and public trial, the right to have 
a jury decide guilt or innocence, the right to the assistance