Guilty Acts, Guilty Minds

Chad Flanders, Criminal Law and Criminal Justice Books Garvey's book is filled with profound insights, and rather ingenious and thought-provoking tests for determining a person's culpability ... People who want to think deeply about the criminal law's doctrinal categories, and ways to creatively move outside of them (while still hanging onto them) are going to like and benefit from Garvey's book.

This book might be the first of its kind: a criminal law theory page-turner. Full of witty thought experiments and lively case examples, Garvey's account of the limits of legitimate criminal law entertains and illuminates in equal measure. This is a fun and accessible introduction to the subject, but also a bold and ambitious contribution to criminal law theory in the grand tradition of Jerome Hall. A must-read."-Malcolm Thorburn, Faculty of Law, University of Toronto


Our much-maligned institutions of criminal law have gained a powerful new ally. Against its many critics, Stephen Garvey ably defends the limited authority of the state to punish persons who commit guilty acts with a guilty mind. Drawing from his impressive command of the leading cases in U.S. criminal law, Garvey helps non-specialists understand the complexities of doctrines governing insanity, ignorance of law, addiction, social deprivation, and a host of additional topics."-Douglas Husak, Distinguished Professor of Philosophy and Law, Rutgers University


In Guilty Acts, Guilty Minds, Stephen Garvey provides a powerful, provocative, and important contribution to the philosophy of criminal law. In conversation with philosophical anarchists, Garvey demonstrates how criminal law's heartland - actus reus and mens rea - are shaped by a respect for democratic legitimacy and, conversely, the occasions in which political legitimacy requires openness to the political process. Guilty Acts, Guilty Minds is a first-rate work of legal theory."-Vincent Chiao, Faculty of Law, University of Toronto and author of Criminal Law in the Age of the Administrative State


Christopher Bennett, Criminal Law and Philosophy One great virtue of Garvey's approach is that it raises a deep question about why meeting these culpability conditions is central to liability to punishment...he has given us valuable light for the journey.

Stephen P. Garvey is the A. Robert Noll Professor of Law at Cornell Law School. His scholarly work addresses doctrinal and theoretical questions arising from the substantive criminal law. He is co-author of Criminal Law: Cases and Materials, now in its eighth edition.

Introduction Chapter 1 - Authority I. Anarchism - Rex's Dilemma A. Criminalization B. Culpability C. Punishment II. Statism - Leviathan's Peace A. Social Peace B. Political Peace III. Democratic Authority A. A State's Right to Conformity B. A Democratic State's Authority IV. Rights A. Criminalization B. Punishment C. Culpability Chapter 2 - Rights I. Actus Reus A. The Conventional Theory B. The Rights Theory II. Mens Rea A. The Conventional Theory B. The Rights Theory Chapter 3 - Knowledge I. Actus Reus A. The Capacity to Choose Otherwise B. The Stephen Test C. Insanity Ii. Mens Rea A. Duress Two Ways B. Provocation C. The Willing Addict III. Tracing Chapter 4 - Ignorance I. Ignorantia Juris A. The Maxim's Scope B. Defending the Maxim C. "Ignorance" of "Law" Defined II. Actus Reus A. The Lex Test B. Insanity III. Mens Rea A. The Jekyll Test B. Putting Jekyll to Work IV. Tracing Chapter 5 - Agency I. Tradition II. Irrationality A. Unintelligibility B. Delusion III. Lost Agency A. The Demon Within B. Defects of Consciousness IV. Authority Chapter 6 - Injustice I. Revolution A. The Revolutionary Road B. After the Revolution C. Resistance II. Reform A. Culpability B. Standing III. Authority A. The State of Exclusion B. Core Crimes C. Non-Core Crimes Conclusion.