Dr. Rand Paul Supports Legislation to Increase Criminal Intent Protections

Press Release

Yesterday, U.S. Senator Rand Paul joined Senators Orrin Hatch (R-UT), Mike Lee (R-UT), Ted Cruz (R-TX), and David Perdue (R-GA) in reintroducing the Mens Rea Reform Act. Senator Hatch's legislation creates a default intent standard of "willfulness" for all federal criminal offenses lacking such a requirement, forcing the government to prove a defendant knew their conduct was unlawful.

"Our criminal justice system is supposed to be built on the foundation of "innocent until proven guilty,' yet the massive growth of Big Government subjects Americans to possible jail time for crimes they could have had no reasonable idea they were committing. This bill would implement much-needed change," said Sen. Paul.

"Rampant and unfair overcriminalization in America calls for criminal justice reform, which starts with default mens rea legislation," said Sen. Hatch. "Requiring proof of criminal intent protects individuals from prison time or other criminal penalties for accidental conduct or for activities they didn't know were wrong. In recent years, Congress and federal agencies have increasingly created crimes with vague or unclear criminal intent requirements or with no criminal intent requirement at all. The Mens Rea Reform Act will help correct that problem and ensure that honest, hardworking Americans are not swept up in the criminal justice system for doing things they didn't know were against the law."

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