NCJ Number
79611
Journal
Contemporary Crisis Volume: 5 Issue: 4 Dated: (October 1981) Pages: 385-394
Date Published
1981
Length
10 pages
Annotation
Class bias in the criminal law's application of intent or mens rea as a requisite for establishing a violation is discussed, with particular attention to Australia.
Abstract
Australian law is used to illustrate the pronounced class bias in criminal law existing in all English-derived legal systems. Class bias in criminal law is manifested in various ways. First, the prohibitions in the criminal law, although applying formally to all, predominantly concern behavior typically engaged in by the disadvantaged class. A less noted bias involves the law's requirement of intent or mens rea as an essential element of establishing culpability. It is a hallowed principle of law that a person is guilty of an offense only if the prosecution can establish intent to commit the violation. If a defendant does not admit criminal intentions in a behavioral law violation, proof of intent is potentially a major stumbling block in any prosecution. This is indeed the case in many prosecutions for corporate or white-collar crime. Numerous cases involving a person or business gaining substantially from violations of law governing corporate economic activity have ended in acquittals because the prosecution was not able to prove to the court's satisfaction that criminal intent was involved. There is no indication that this persistent stumbling block to the prosecution of white-collar crime is being addressed through specification of less rigorous manifestations of criminal intent. In laws applying to typical lower class crimes, however, modifications and lenient court interpretations of the proof required to establish intent aim at making the prosecution's job much easier. The article concludes that society's will to punish and control the lower classes through criminal law is much stronger than its desire to sanction and restrict those in positions of prestige. This is largely because those engaging in white-collar crime have the power and influence to make the system serve their interests. Twenty-three notes are listed.