characteristics
of criminal law. Many serious harms caused without
mental intent provide grounds for civil liability, but they do not
traditionally give rise to criminal prosecution. The criminal law
has traditionally required not only that the defendant cause a
serious harm (the actus reus) but also that she do so with a particular
state of mind—criminal intent, purpose, knowledge,
belief, recklessness, or the like. People who cause harm without
such mental element ordinarily cannot be said to be “at fault” or
“deserving” in the way that the just imposition of punishment is
thought to require.41