SOSC 4352 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Mens Rea, Actus Reus, Racial Profiling

• School: York University
• Department: Social Science
• Course: SOSC 4352
• Professor: Dena Demos

Document Summary

Sosc 4352: social dimensions of criminal law lecture 5: culpability, voluntariness and. The te(cid:454)t of da(cid:448)id bazelo(cid:374)"s a(cid:396)ti(cid:272)le (cid:862)the (cid:373)o(cid:396)alit(cid:455) of the (cid:272)(cid:396)i(cid:373)i(cid:374)al la(cid:449) suggests that (cid:395)uestio(cid:374) of moral culpability often turn on a su(cid:271)tle (cid:271)ala(cid:374)(cid:272)e (cid:271)et(cid:449)ee(cid:374) the (cid:272)o(cid:373)(cid:373)u(cid:374)it(cid:455)"s (cid:396)elu(cid:272)ta(cid:374)(cid:272)e to i(cid:373)pose (cid:373)o(cid:396)al (cid:272)o(cid:374)de(cid:373)(cid:374)atio(cid:374) . Being responsible is not always the same as being morally or legally culpable (under law) When we talk about legal vs. moral culpability, it is in a criminal law context. In the common law, criminal culpability is understood primarily in terms of free i(cid:374)di(cid:448)idual de(cid:272)isio(cid:374) a(cid:374)d a(cid:272)tio(cid:374). Ha(cid:396)t sa(cid:455)s (cid:862)the p(cid:396)i(cid:374)(cid:272)iple of pu(cid:374)ish(cid:373)e(cid:374)t should be restricted to those who have volunta(cid:396)il(cid:455) (cid:271)(cid:396)oke(cid:374) the la(cid:449)(cid:863) In order to prevail, you have to establish the intention. The two have to co-exist: mens rea and actus reus. The underlying main idea behind mens rea is the idea of responsible agent; they have chosen to break the law. Consciousness is a necessary condition of criminal culpability.