Opinion ID: 2083044
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Background Mens Rea and Strict Liability

Text: The problem of determining the degree of culpability required to establish elements of criminal offenses in the absence of express legislative prescription has proved to be a difficult one for the courts. [1] The offense of homicide by vehicle/DUI, 75 Pa.C.S. § 3735, presents a particular challenge, as, for example, this Court's past expressions are divided concerning whether, on what basis, and to what extent criminal liability is intended to and may be imposed without regard to fault in the context of the predicate offense of driving under the influence, 75 Pa.C.S. § 3731 (DUI), including the extent to which such imposition would meet constitutional requirements. See Commonwealth v. Mikulan, 504 Pa. 244, 260, 470 A.2d 1339, 1347 (1983)(plurality). Many jurisdictions hold that the offense of driving while intoxicated, as well as related offenses providing for more severe grading where actual harm results from a DUI, are intended to impose liability without requiring a specific finding that the defendant possessed a culpable state of mind. [2] Criminal liability in the absence of intention, belief, recklessness, or negligence is generally termed strict or absolute liability. See generally Kenneth W. Simons, When is Strict Criminal Liability Just?, 87 J.CRIM. L. & CRIMINOLOGY 1075, 1080 (Summ.1997). [3] Strict liability is unique in the criminal law, in that wrongful intent ordinarily is an element of a crime, this principle being embodied in the fundamental concept of mens rea. See United States v. Cordoba-Hincapie, 825 F.Supp. 485, 489 (E.D.N.Y.1993)(Weinstein, J.)(explaining that [t]he term, `mens rea,' meaning `a guilty mind; a guilty or wrongful purpose; a criminal intent,' is a shorthand for a broad network of concepts encompassing much of the relationship between the individual and the criminal law). [4] Because of this intrinsic connection between culpability and condemnation, statutes imposing strict liability are not favored. See generally Staples v. United States, 511 U.S. 600, 605-06, 114 S.Ct. 1793, 1797, 128 L.Ed.2d 608 (1994); Commonwealth v. Barone, 276 Pa.Super. 282, 290, 419 A.2d 457, 462 (1980)(plurality)(describing a strong common law tradition against strict penal responsibility). Indeed, commentators have strongly suggested, and in some instances courts have held, that there are constitutional limitations upon the ability of the legislative branch to impose criminal liability without fault. See Cordoba-Hincapie, 825 F.Supp. at 505-06, 515-16 (reviewing federal jurisprudence on the subject and characterizing such as uncertain and uneven). [5] While the imposition of strict liability is disfavored and of questionable validity in some contexts, there are recognized exceptions. For example, it is widely accepted that the legislative branch may impose absolute liability for public welfare offenses to promote the public welfare by enforcing compliance with regulatory schemes. See Morissette, 342 U.S. at 255, 72 S.Ct. at 246; Commonwealth v. Koczwara, 397 Pa. 575, 580, 155 A.2d 825, 827-28 (1959)([s]uch so-called statutory crimes are in reality an attempt to utilize the machinery of criminal administration as an enforcing arm for social regulation of a purely civil nature, with the punishment totally unrelated to questions of moral wrongdoing or guilt). The justification for the application of strict liability in this context includes the observation that penalties for regulatory offenses, as well as impact upon reputation, are generally minimal. See id. [6] A limited number of serious offenses, such as statutory rape and felony murder, have also been treated, in various jurisdictions, as entailing strict liability elements. See generally Cordoba-Hincapie, 825 F.Supp. at 497. [7] In many jurisdictions, as noted, it is also recognized that offenses analogous to Pennsylvania's homicide by vehicle, 75 Pa.C.S. § 3732, DUI, 75 Pa.C.S. § 3731, and homicide by vehicle/DUI, 75 Pa.C.S. § 3735, entail strict liability elements, see supra note 2, which, as further discussed below, does not square easily with the traditional justifications for the imposition of absolute liability and implicates concerns of constitutional dimension.