Traps for the Unwary: Interpreting Mental State Requirements in Oregon Environmental Crimes

Abstract:     
Although a decade has past since Oregon enacted the Oregon Environmental Crimes Act, almost no cases have interpreted the mental state requirements for the environmental crimes created by the Act. This paper examines the mental state required to establish Oregon environmental crimes in light of the puzzling mental state provisions of the Oregon Criminal Code, which the Oregon appellate courts still struggle to interpret. The paper offers a reinterpretation of the Oregon Criminal Code's mental state provisions based upon the common law, which surprisingly was retained in many Oregon Criminal Code provisions, even though the Code is based on a Model Penal Code format. The paper then interprets the environmental crimes provisions in light of existing Oregon case law and the alternative reinterpretation presented in the paper.

Keywords: Model Penal Code, Oregon, criminal, mental state, mens rea, scienter, environmental crimes, common law

JEL Classification: K10, K14, K20, K23, K30, K32, K40, K42

working papers series