10. Statutory Silence Flashcards

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1
Q

**Federal penal law is based on ….

A

codified common law crimes, NO MPC structure

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2
Q

Morissette

A
  • Land used as Air Force practice bombing range, left spent casings there in heaps. Morissette went in area to hunt, salvaged 3 tons of spent casings and got $84 for them. Thought the property was abandoned (intended to take it)
  • Statute - – embezzles, steals, purloins, or knowingly converts to his use…anything of value of the US
  • Mistake claim- he knew he was taking those things, but believed they were abandoned and no longer property of US, didn’t think he was taking property of the US
  • Question of what was the mental state required to convict him of conversion because the statute was silent as to mental state
  • Assume there is a mental state unless a compelling reason not to
    1. Look into intent of legislature
      o If it was codifying a common law crime then assume legislature intended to continue common law tradition
    1. If not codifying a common law crime (it’s a new crime) then have to figure out what kind of new crime it is
      o Public welfare offenses/federal regulatory offense- assume legislature eliminated mental state requirement – strict liability
       Stigma is low and penalty is low
  • Conclude it is version of common law crime, have to prove he knew he was taking property and knew it was the property of another
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3
Q

If there is a statute that is silent as to mens rea that is a new crime that is not a public welfare crime and is not a common law crime and doesn’t have a common law history,…

A

then can assume general intent (though defense will often argue specific intent)

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4
Q

If statute is silent and it is a public welfare offense..

A

strict liability (super deterrence) (usually doing something that endangers public as a whole, purpose is to deter and protect)

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5
Q

US v. Dotterweich

A

president of a company that bought drugs from manufacturers and repackaged them and shipped them under a new label, strict liability for shipping adultered/misbranded drug, no requirement of awareness of wrongdoing

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6
Q

US v. Park

A

company shipped food that had been contaminated by rodents, strict liability, want to punish neglect where there was a duty, positive duty to seek out and remedy violations and to implement measures that will ensure violations don’t happen
- Often use strict liability outside public welfare context – like in gun registration, statutory rape, felony murder

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7
Q

US v. Freed

A
  • Statute – unlawful to receive or possess a firearm which is not registered to him
  • D indicted for possession of unregistered hand grenades, statute silent as to intent/knowledge that the hand grenades were unregistered. Only knowledge requirement was that possession was of a firearm
  • Freed’s claim was that he thought he registered
  • Said that the “not registered to him” element was strict liability
  • In the interest of public safety, not surprising that it’s not an innocent act
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8
Q

Staples v. US

A
  • Failed to register a machine gun under same statute
  • Silent as to the mental state, don’t know if defendant is required to know the facts that make his conduct illegal
  • He knew it was a firearm, but didn’t know it possessed the factual characteristics that would bring it under the statute (didn’t know it had automatic firing capability)
  • District court said they didn’t have to prove he knew that the weapon had every characteristic of the statute, just that he knew it was dangerous
  • SC disagreed, statute required that D know the characteristics requiring classification of the weapon as a machine gun, knowledge element, know what makes his conduct illegal
  • The severe penalty (10 years in prison) proved further that Congress didn’t mean to get rid of the mens rea
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