State v. Chumbley

Making criminals of those who do not have a criminal intent flies in the face of common sense, fundamental fairness, and the purpose of the criminal law.

Imposing a standard of “strict liability” for a crime means that a person is guilty of a criminal offense even if the act was unintentional. If there were strict liability for shoplifting, a young mother whose child, without the mother’s knowledge, slipped candy into her purse at the grocery could go to jail.

I must first take issue with the majority’s recitation of the facts. Chumbley was charged only with selling a pitcher of beer to…