Florida's Disregard of Due Process Rights for Nearly a Decade: Treating Drug Possession as a Strict Liability Crime

Authors

Rachel A. Lyons

First Page

350

Document Type

Article

Abstract

This Article examines the United States Supreme Court's jurisprudence that constitutionally compels an analysis under the Due Process Clause for strict liability crimes, and how the Florida Legislature overstepped its due process limitations when it amended Florida's Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Law in 2002. Part I traces the evolution of mens rea in the criminal justice system. Part II provides a history of Florida's Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Law. Part III discusses the recent constitutional challenges to Florida's Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Law. Part IV explains why the United States Supreme Court cases addressing strict liability crimes compel a constitutional analysis under the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Part V focuses on how Florida's Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Laws violate the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Finally, part VI provides both a pragmatic solution for the Florida Legislature to remedy Florida's Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Law and an overwhelming suggestion to the United States Supreme Court to require legislatures to engage in a delineated due process analysis when enacting strict liability crimes.

Recommended Citation

Rachel A. Lyons, Florida's Disregard of Due Process Rights for Nearly a Decade: Treating Drug Possession as a Strict Liability Crime, 24 St. Thomas L. Rev. 350 (2012).
Available at: https://scholarship.stu.edu/stlr/vol24/iss2/7