Hatch, Grassley Introduce Bill to Strengthen and Clarify Intent Requirements in Federal Criminal Law
WASHINGTON — Today,
Senators Orrin Hatch (R-UT), the former Chairman of the Senate Judiciary
Committee, and Chuck Grassley (R-IA), the current Chairman of the Judiciary
Committee, introduced legislation to clarify and strengthen intent requirements
in our federal criminal laws. The problem of overcriminalization is
complex, and it includes the lack of clear mens rea requirements in much of our
criminal laws.
The Mens
Rea Reform Act of 2018 would strengthen the intent requirements in our
federal criminal laws. And it would make these changes in a responsible way by
establishing an extended process for federal agencies and Congress, with the
assistance of a National Criminal Justice Commission and input from the public,
to clarify the mens rea requirements in our existing criminal laws.
“I have long believed that
meaningful mens rea reform is a critical component of any comprehensive
criminal justice reform package,” said
Hatch. “I am pleased that today Chairman Grassley joins me in
recognizing the importance of mens rea reform, and I look forward to working
with him to advance this initiative alongside sentencing and prison
reform. I firmly believe that such a comprehensive approach is necessary.
But I’ve also been around long enough to know that we should never let the
perfect be the enemy of the good. If there is no path forward for a
comprehensive deal, I am fully supportive of making incremental progress where
we can.”
“Our criminal justice system should be tough but fair. That means
consequences should fit their crimes and criminal laws should be as much about
defending the liberty of the innocent as they are about preventing and
punishing illegal behavior. Thoughtful mens rea reform that promotes clarity in
our criminal laws is an important piece of the puzzle. I’m grateful for Senator
Hatch’s ongoing leadership on this issue and for his partnership in advancing
the bipartisan Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act,” Grassley said.
Statements of Support
Efforts to
reform mens rea intent requirements for federal criminal laws are supported by
a broad range of groups, from the National Association of Criminal Defense
Lawyers to the American Conservative Union and many others.
David
Safavian, General Counsel of the American Conservative Union:
“The
explosion in the size of government has led to a massive growth in the number
of federal crimes. When so much of our daily lives is governed by the criminal
code, a fundamental tenet of fairness is that people should know what they are
doing is wrong if they are to be held accountable for their conduct.
Unfortunately, that’s not always the case. Far too many criminal charges
are for so-called “strict liability” offenses. Often arising out of
bureaucratic rules and regulations, strict liability crimes relieve the prosecutor
of having to prove that the defendant intended to break the law – or even knew
that his/her conduct was illegal. The strict liability approach often
results in outcomes that would be comical if it weren’t for the fact that
people end up in prison. It’s common sense that Americans should know what they
are doing is wrong before they can be charged by their government with a crime.
The Mens Rea Reform Act of 2018 will limit the ability of faceless bureaucrats
to create more strict liability crimes. Equally important, the
legislation, introduced by Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Judiciary Committee
Chairman Charles Grassley (R-IA), will establish a mechanism for Congress to
review those laws already on the books, and ensure that the appropriate standard
of intent is applied. The American Conservative Union applauds Senators
Hatch and Grassley for their efforts, and strongly support this important
reform.”
Rick Jones,
President of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers:
"Fundamental
fairness requires that every criminal statute and regulation have a clearly
defined intent requirement. The failure to abide by this core principle,
combined with the explosive and wholly unregulated growth of criminal laws,
fosters unfairness, exacerbates disparity and undermines the moral authority of
our justice system. This critically important legislation is long overdue.”
Background
By many
estimates, there are approximately 5,000 federal statutes that impose criminal
sanctions, along with an estimated 300,000 federal regulations that also carry
criminal penalties. With so many criminal laws on the books, it’s far too
easy for Americans to break federal laws unwittingly, with no understanding
whatsoever that their behavior is illegal. The lack of clear mens rea
requirements in many of these criminal laws only exacerbates the problem of
overcriminalization. Sentencing and prison reform can do only so much if
we continue to allow individuals to be sent to prison for conduct they did not
know was unlawful, even when Congress does not specify that their crime should
be a strict liability offense.
For the past
several years, Senator Hatch has championed the Mens Rea Reform Act to
establish a default intent requirement of willfulness for all federal criminal
offenses that lack an intent requirement. Prior versions of this bill
were criticized for the potentially sweeping, unintended consequences that
could result if a default mens rea requirement was applied to an unknown number
of the thousands of criminal statutes and regulations already on the
books. Those criticisms are addressed in Mens Rea Reform Act of 2018,
which establishes a default intent requirement of willfulness but provides both
Congress and federal agencies an extended opportunity to clarify the mens rea
requirement with existing laws before the default mens rea standard would
apply.
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