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HR 59 · in committee · significant

Mens Rea Reform Act of 2025

What this bill does

  • This bill sets a default mental state requirement for federal crimes that don't specify one.
  • It affects federal prosecutors who must now prove defendants acted knowingly for each offense element.
  • The change applies immediately to federal criminal and regulatory offenses lacking explicit mental state requirements.

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Community Threads

Started by Cosponsor

  1. 01

    How might requiring prosecutors to prove 'knowing' intent for every crime element affect their ability to prosecute complex federal regulatory violations?

  2. 02

    Which federal crimes or industries currently lack explicit mental state requirements, and how would this bill's default standard change enforcement in those areas?

  3. 03

    What trade-offs exist between protecting defendants from unintentional violations and maintaining federal prosecutors' effectiveness in pursuing corporate or environmental crimes?

Cosponsor writes these to seed civic discussion — they aren't user posts. Sign in to reply.

Sponsor · R-AZ-5

Andy Biggs

Citizen cosponsors

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In Congress

2/ 435

House Reps cosponsoring

Introduced 2025-06-10

Joining the bill

Legislative timeline

  1. 2025-06-10 · house · Committee

    Ordered to be Reported in the Nature of a Substitute by the Yeas and Nays: 15 - 13.

  2. 2025-06-10 · house · Committee

    Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held

  3. 2025-01-03 · house · IntroReferral

    Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.

  4. 2025-01-03 · IntroReferral

    Introduced in House

  5. 2025-01-03 · IntroReferral

    Introduced in House

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