Mitchell Hamline School of Law Mitchell Hamline Open Access Symposium: 50th Anniversary of the Minnesota Mitchell Hamline Events Criminal Code-Looking Back and Looking Forward 2013 Mens Rea in Minnesota and the Model Penal Code Ted Sampsell-Jones William Mitchell College of Law,
[email protected] Follow this and additional works at: http://open.mitchellhamline.edu/symposium-minnesota- criminal-code Part of the Criminal Law Commons, and the Criminal Procedure Commons Recommended Citation Sampsell-Jones, Ted, "Mens Rea in Minnesota and the Model Penal Code" (2013). Symposium: 50th Anniversary of the Minnesota Criminal Code-Looking Back and Looking Forward. Paper 4. http://open.mitchellhamline.edu/symposium-minnesota-criminal-code/4 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Mitchell Hamline Events at Mitchell Hamline Open Access. It has been accepted for inclusion in Symposium: 50th Anniversary of the Minnesota Criminal Code-Looking Back and Looking Forward by an authorized administrator of Mitchell Hamline Open Access. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. DRAFT Mens Rea in Minnesota and the Model Penal Code Ted Sampsell-Jones I. Introduction When Minnesota engaged in the great reform and recodification effort that led to the Criminal Code of 1963, it was part of a nationwide reform movement. That movement was spurred in large part by the American Law Institute and its Model Penal Code. The Minnesota drafters were influenced by the MPC, and at least in some areas, adopted MPC recommendations. The MPC’s most significant innovation was in the law of mens rea—the body of law concerning the mental state or “guilty mind” necessary for criminal liability.