Have you ever discovered, after the fact, that you actually did something illegal, but had not idea at the time that it was against the law? Well, you’re not alone. People do it every day. And with Michigan’s very regulation-heavy penal code that gets more expansive with every passing year, this becomes more likely all the time.Which is why Governor Snyder has recently signed into law House Bill 4713. This new legislation, called the “guilty mind” law, was passed unanimously by both the House and Senate, and makes it harder for someone to be convicted of a crime if they didn’t even know they were breaking the law.
The term “mens rea” is Latin, meaning “the guilty mind”. And when it comes to the law, it is a very important standard in determining criminal liability. In other words, unless a law specifies otherwise, the prosecutor is required to prove that the defendant was intentionally breaking the law in order to get a conviction.
Supporters of this law thought it was a long overdue piece of legislation
According to supporters of this law, it is a long overdue piece of legislation that is critical for the courts to operate properly. After all, with every passing year, hundreds of new laws are passed, criminalizing a wide range of choices, activities, and items. So something that wasn’t illegal last time you checked could have been criminalized since then, and you could unwittingly end up behind bars for something that you had no idea was illegal!
Both the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan and the Mackinac Center for Public Policy testified in front of the House Oversight Committee in September, in favor of the bill. Michael Reitz, the Executive Vice President of the Mackinac Center released a statement at that time explaining why this particular law was so important for fairness and justice in Michigan.
“Michigan has over 3,100 criminal offenses on its books, many of which are silent on the mental state necessary for conviction. House Bill 4713 would make Michigan a leader by ensuring that the people we are putting behind bars are those that broke the law knowingly or recklessly.”
There have been a number of cases in Michigan where innocent people were convicted of crimes because they unwittingly did something that they truly believed was legal. The resulting impact on their lives, and the lives of their loved ones, was devastating. Hopefully, this new law will keep that from happening in the future.