1 Orthodox Criminal Theory 1
The Need for Criminal Law Reform 1
The Fundamental Principles of Criminal Liability 7
1.Legality 7
2.Actus Reus 9
3.Mens Rea 11
4.Concurrence 14
5.Harm 14
6.Causation 15
7.Defenses 17
8.Proof 18
Criminal Theory as Descriptive 20
Criminal Theory as Prescriptive 23
Notes 26
2 Some Observations About Orthodox Criminal Theory 30
Justice and Rights 30
Rights and Criminal Theory 35
Redundancies and Interrelations 40
Black, White, and Shades of Gray 43
Notes 47
3 Justice and Criminal Theory 50
Utility and Criminal Theory 50
Voluntary Intoxication 53
Ignorance of Law 56
Evidence and Criminal Theory 58
Unreasonable Mistakes of Fact 61
Discretion and Criminal Theory 64
The "Subjectification" of Criminal Negligence 65
Choice of Lesser Evils 66
Taint 69
Notes 72
4 The Physical Component of Crime 78
The Impediments to Assessment 78
Criminal Liability Without Action 83
Omissions 83
Status Offenses 86
Involuntary Conduct 90
Thoughts 93
Control 97
Omissions 99
Status Offenses 100
Involuntary Conduct 102
Thoughts 103
Arguments for Control 105
Notes 111
5 The Mental Component of Crime 122
The Orthodox Model of the Criminal Offense 122
Legal and Moral Obligation 128
Criminal Negligence 132
When Is Liability "Strict"? 136
Bifurcated Trials and the Insanity Defense 141
The Irrelevance of Motive 143
Notes 148
6 Omissions, Causation, and Criminal Liability 156
Substantive Injustice 156
Can Omissions Be Causes? 160
Cause in Fact 161
Proximate Cause 163
Proximate Cause as Evaluative 163
Proximate Cause as Descriptive 164
The Causal Requirement 166
Criminal Omissions Without Causation 171
The Distinction Between Acts and Omissions 173
Bodily Movements 174
Apparent Omissions Categorized as Positive Actions 176
Apparent Positive Actions Categorized as Omissions 178
Notes 181
7 Substantive Defenses 187
A Taxonomy of Defenses 187
Advantages of the Taxonomy 190
Two Accounts of Justifications 190
Ignorance of Law and the Modification of Offenses 192
The Serial View of Defenses 194
The Rationale of the Insanity Defense 196
Problems of Classification 198
Denials and Justifications 198
Justifications and Excuses 202
Denials and Excuses 203
Why the Problems? 203
Burdens of Proof 207
The Traditional View 207
The Presumption of Innocence View 209
The Greater Includes the Lesser View 211
Inculpatory Mistakes 211
Notes 216
8 The Enforcement of Morality 224
A Puzzling Anomaly 224
A False Start 229
Harm 231
Harm as a Moral and Political Principle 231
Mill and the Harm Principle 236
Liberalism and Neutrality 237
Liberal Neutrality as the Absence of Morality 239
Liberal Neutrality as Morality 242
Notes 244
Bibliography 249
Index 259