Strict Liability Offenses Research Paper

Total Length: 715 words ( 2 double-spaced pages)

Total Sources: 2

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Liability

When a crime is committed, actus reus, police and other criminologists will need to find out who is responsible. According to the criminal justice system, if a person is accused of a crime, the people in positions of authority in that jurisdiction must determine how liable that suspect is for the actions that they have performed. Most suspects will be found to be of sound mind and therefore they are completely responsible for what they have done and will have to face the full penalty for their crimes. They will be found mens rea, meaning that the person was fully aware of the repercussions of their actions but chose to commit a crime anyway. Some people however are found to be unsound in terms of their mental faculties. These people will be considered less liable because a mental illness or sociological influences may have prevented them from understanding the full implications of their actions. The topic of liability is in the news recently partly due to the large number of mass shootings that have come of late. Criminologists and psychologists have tried to determine the level of liability these perpetrators have and the level of leniency that should be granted them based upon their mental states and life experiences.


In 2012 it seems that there were more mass shooting incidences than ever before. Crimes were committed in Colorado at a movie theater, at a mall in Oregon, and at an elementary school in Connecticut just to name a few. Many people have died because of these incidences and many more have been injured, most of them young people. One of the earliest last year was the case of seventeen-year-old T.J. Lane who perpetrated a school shooting at Chardon High School in Ohio where he fired ten shots which injured half a dozen students which took place on the 27th of February (Tavernise 2012). After confessing to the crime in court, psychologists brought up mitigating factors which they believe should be used to determine Lane's criminal liability and subsequent punishment.

There are several factors in this case which challenges the argument that Lane should be held completely….....

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"Strict Liability Offenses", 16 March 2013, Accessed.18 May. 2024,
https://www.aceyourpaper.com/essays/strict-liability-offenses-102804