If you started law school after 2001, the year that Elle Woods defended her client by defining mens rea to the court in Legally Blonde, you probably entered your first criminal law class knowing that a conviction requires guilty knowledge.It seems that the Florida legislature disregarded that legal and cinematic pearl of wisdom. In 2002, the legislature amended the state’s Drug Abuse Prevention and Control law to eliminate mens rea. At the end of July, a federal judge in Florida overturned the law, noting that “Florida stands along in its express elimination of mens rea as an element of a drug offense.”
The NACDL reasoned that, by the same criteria, “a Federal Express delivery person who unknowingly delivers a parcel containing a controlled substance, would be presumed a felon under Florida’s drug law.”
The decision will likely trigger a ripple effect through Florida appeals courts as other post-2002 drug defendants begin challenging their convictions under the overturned Florida drug law.We understand the average person’s dismissal of Ms. Woods’ legal musings; she wore too much pink, she asked compound questions, and she testified instead of asking her witness questions on cross-examination, not to mention she was a fictional character. The Florida legislature has no such out. Wasn’t there a legislative counsel available to advise the law-makers that drug delivery is not a strict liability crime?
So the question remains: Will the state appeal to the Eleventh Circuit or set about changing the Florida drug law?Related Resources:
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