1 Harvey Silverglate, Three Felonies a Day: How the Feds Target the Innocent (Encounter Books, 2011); Morissette v. U.S., 342 U.S. 246 (1952); Morissette v. U.S., 187 F.2d 427 (6th Cir. 1951).
2 Morissette v. United States, 342 U.S. at 248.
3 John S. Baker and William J. Haun, “The ‘Mens Rea’ Component Within the Issue of the Over-Federalization of Crime,” Engage 14, no. 2 (Jul. 2013): 24-29, accessed Nov. 15, 2013, http://goo.gl/Gzi8Tc.
4 William Blackstone, “Commentaries on the Laws of England,” 1758, accessed Nov. 19, 2013, http://goo.gl/uc3a2X.
5 Quoted in Morissette v. United States, 342 U.S. at 252 n.9.
6 Ibid., 251-52.
7 Ibid., 247.
8 Ibid., 250.
9 Ibid., 250-51.
10 Ibid., 263.
11 Ibid., 263.
12 People v. Lardie, 452 Mich. 231, 241 (1996). Lardie was subsequently overturned by the Michigan Supreme Court on grounds unrelated to the issues discussed in this paper.
13 Ibid., 240.
14 People v. Cash, 419 Mich. 230 (1984).
15 People v. Lardie, 452 Mich. at 240-41 (internal citations omitted).
16 Morissette, 342 U.S. at 254.
17 Francis B. Sayre, Public Welfare Offenses, 33 Col.L.Rev. 55, 73, 84 (1933), cited by Morissette, 342 U.S. at 262 n.20.
18 People v. Snowberger, 113 Mich. 86 (1897) and People v. Waldvogel, 49 Mich. 337 (1882).
19 Catherine L. Carpenter, “On Statutory Rape, Strict Liability, and the Public Welfare Offense Model,” American University Law Review 53, no. 2 (2003): 324, accessed Nov. 20, 2013, http://goo.gl/Tq0oaA.
20 Brian W. Walsh and Tiffany M. Joslyn, “Without Intent: How Congress Is Eroding the Criminal Intent Requirement in Federal Law” (The Heritage Foundation and the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, May 5, 2010), accessed Nov. 20, 2013, http://goo.gl/M5Tglr.
21 Lardie, 452 Mich. at 240.
22 People v. Quinn, 440 Mich. 178, 198 (1992).
23 People v. Roby, 52 Mich. 577, 579 (1884).
24 Lardie, 452 Mich. at 239.
25 Ibid., 241.
26 People v. Kowalski, 489 Mich. 488, 498, reh’g denied, 490 Mich. 868 (2011).
27 Ibid., 499.
28 Lardie, 452 Mich. at 250. In People v. Quinn, the Michigan Supreme Court summarized several factors courts have relied upon to determine whether a legislature dispensed with the mens rea requirement: “(1) the statute’s legislative history or its title, (2) guidance to interpretation provided by other statutes, (3) the severity of the punishment provided, (4) the severity of potential harm to the public, (5) the opportunity to ascertain the true facts, and (6) the difficulty encountered by prosecuting officials in proving a mental state.”
29 Andrew M. Grossman, “The Unlikely Orchid Smuggler?: A Case Study in Overcriminalization” (The Heritage Foundation, Jul. 27, 2009), accessed Nov. 20, 2013, http://goo.gl/3q9UVG.
30 John C. Coffee, “Does Unlawful Mean Criminal: Reflections on the Disappearing Tort/Crime Distinction in American Law,” Boston University Law Review 71 (1991): 201–252, accessed Nov. 20, 2013, http://goo.gl/0VcW5h.
31 MCL § 287.893.
32 MCL § 287.899(2).
33 MCL § 324.52901; MCL § 324.52909.
34 MCL § 445.301; MCL § 445.305.
35 MCL §§ 435.251-254. The law allows for certain exceptions and does not apply to counties with a population under 130,000.
36 MCL § 324.2156.
37 MCL § 324.8905.
38 MCL § 324.16704.
39 MCL § 324.16902.
40 MCL § 324.35106.
41 MCL § 324.76107.
42 MCL § 4.416a.
43 MCL § 287.277.
44 MCL § 750.542.
45 Model Penal Code § 2.02(2)(a)-(d).
46 Ibid., § 2.02(3).
47 John S. Baker, “Mens Rea and State Crimes” (The Federal Society, Jul. 2012), 12, accessed Nov. 20, 2013, http://goo.gl/VJQ1GU.
48 People v. Trotter, 209 Mich. App. 244 (1995).
49 Ibid., 248.
50 Lardie, 452 Mich. at 237.
51 Ibid., 254 (citations and internal quotation marks omitted).
52 People v. Jensen, 231 Mich. App. 439 (1998).
53 Ibid., 453.
54 Ibid., 455.
55 People v. Nasir, 255 Mich. App. 38 (2003).
56 MCL § 205.428(6) prohibits the manufacture, possession or use of a counterfeit tax stamp, and is punishable for up to 10 years imprisonment and a fine of up to $50,000.
57 Nasir, 255 Mich. App. at 44.
58 Ibid.
59 People v. Tombs, 472 Mich. 446 (2005).
60 MCL § 750.145c(3)-(4).
61 Ibid., 456-57, 466.
62 Ibid., 457.
63 Ibid., 459.
64 Ibid., 461.
65 Berry v. Michigan Racing Com’r, 116 Mich. App. 164 (1982).
66 People v. Quinn, 440 Mich. 178 (1992).
67 People v. Likine, 492 Mich. 367 (2012).
68 MCL § 750.165(1).
69 People v. Roby, 52 Mich. 577, 579 (1884).
70 People v. Hatinger, 174 Mich. 333 (1913).
71 People v. Schumacher, 276 Mich. App. 165 (2007).
72 MCL §§ 324.101 et seq.
73 Schumacher, 276 Mich. App. at 173.