Model Penal Code

The Model Penal Code (MPC) is a model act designed to stimulate and assist U.S. state legislatures to update and standardize the penal law of the United States.^[1][2] The MPC was a project of the American Law Institute (ALI), and was published in 1962 after a ten-year drafting period.^[3] The chief reporter on the project was Herbert Wechsler, and contributors included Sanford Kadish and numerous other noted criminal law scholars, prosecutors, and defense lawyers.^[4][5][3]

The ALI performed an examination of the penal system in the U.S. and the prohibitions, sanctions, excuses, and authority used throughout in order to arrive at a cohesive synthesis to the extent possible,^[5] and the best rules for the penal system in the United States.^[5] Primary responsibility for criminal law lies with the individual states, which over the years led to great inconsistency among the various state penal codes.^[4] The MPC was meant to be a comprehensive criminal code that would allow for similar laws to be passed in different jurisdictions.^[2]

The MPC itself is not legally-binding law, but since its publication in 1962 more than half of all U.S. states have enacted criminal codes that borrow heavily from it.^[3] It has greatly influenced criminal courts even in states that have not directly drawn from it, and judges increasingly use the MPC as a source of the doctrines and principles underlying criminal liability.^[3]