It's not always a crime
Both Simple Justice, and Truth in Justice, recently commented on the reversal of a criminally negligent homicide conviction in New York. The 17 year old defendant was on his way home when he lost control over his car while going through a turn. He had 3 friends with him, who all died. The defendant was speeding, and only had a junior license. The Court of Appeals concluded that was not enough to make the conduct criminal.
Sometimes people have a hard time accepting that some actions are not crimes. Criminal statutes are generally designed to punish intentional conduct; you know something is wrong, but you do it anyway. You don't always have to intend the result; for instance, you might get in a fight, and during the fight the other person trips, and hits his head, resulting in serious injury. You may still be guilty of an aggravated assault, if serious bodily injury resulted.
All but a few criminal offenses require a mental state. There are three - intentionally, knowingly and recklessly. Recklessness means you aware of the risk, but ignore it. In the assault example, you know something might happen. You can be reckless, and be just as guilty as if you act intentionally.
Sometimes you don't need a mental state at all. Intoxication manslaughter is one of those offenses. If you intoxicated, and involved in an accident, you are guilty. The State doesn't have to prove the accident was the result of your drinking, they just have to prove you were legally intoxicated. Sometimes its nothing more than bad luck; both for the defendant, and the other parties.
So why should you be guilty if you don't have the necessary intent? The theory is strict liability - you are responsible for the consequences of your actions, no matter what your intent is. If you drive while intoxicated, you are responsible for whatever happens. Some may think it fair, and some may not.
Not everything has to be crime. We have a civil justice system that is designed to handle disputes. We would be better off if we let the civil justice system handle some of those disputes, and not make everything a crime. After all, we have more than enough people in jail already.
