Some criminal statutes may be violated without any intent whatsoever.  Where criminal intent is not an essential element of the offense, the crime will generally not be held to be a crime involving moral turpitude.  An offense not malum in se, i.e., which does not include as an essential element of the offense a specific state of mind properly equated with the common-law concept of mens rea, as opposed to an intent to do the act which itself has been proscribed and rendered malum prohibitum, does not qualify as a crime which involves moral turpitude as a matter of law.  This conclusion remains, even though the facts of a given case may disclose conduct which involved moral turpitude, since the court may not inquire into the facts of the case to make the CMT determination.[970]

 

If the elements of the crime require no motive or intent, and the defendant may be convicted even though the conduct was prompted by innocent motives, then the crime does not involve moral turpitude.[971]

[970] Forbes v. Brownell, 149 F.Supp. 848 (D.D.C. 1957).

[971] United States ex rel. Mylius v. Uhl, 203 Fed. 152 (S.D.N.Y. 1913), aff’d sub nom. United States v. Uhl, 210 Fed. 860 (2d Cir. 1914); United States v. Carrollo, 30 F.Supp. 3 (W.D.Mo. 1939); Matter of M, 9 I. & N. Dec. 132 (BIA 1960).

Fifth Circuit

CRIME OF MORAL TURPITUDE - DRIVING OFFENSES - HIT AND RUN
Garcia-Maldonado v. Gonzales, 491 F.3d 284 (5th Cir. Jun. 29, 2007) (Texas conviction of failure to stop and render aid under Texas Transportation Code 550.021 is a CMT for immigration purposes; "subsection of section 550.21 that criminalizes failure to render aid proscribes behavior that runs contrary to accepted societal duties.")

NOTE: The statute of conviction does not require any intent. The court seems to imply a knowledge element, but does not cite any statutory language or cases that require knowledge.

Ninth Circuit

CRIMES OF MORAL TURPITUDE - POSSESSION OF CHILD PORNOGRAPHY
United States v. Santacruz, 563 F.3d 894 (9th Cir. Apr. 20, 2009) (per curiam) (federal conviction of possession of child pornography, in violation of 18 U.S.C. 2252A(a)(5)(B) ("knowingly possesses, or knowingly accesses with intent to view, any book, magazine, periodical, film, videotape, computer disk, or any other material that contains an image of child pornography"), constituted a conviction of a crime involving moral turpitude, and supported district court's order granting partial summary judgment in favor of the United States in an action to revoke naturalized citizenship: "The Supreme Court has characterized sexual abuse of a minor as "an act repugnant to the moral instincts of a decent people." Ashcroft v. Free Speech Coalition, 535 U.S. 234, 244, 122 S.Ct. 1389, 152 L.Ed.2d 403 (2002). Moreover, child pornography, as "permanent record of a child's abuse," causes continuing "injury to the child's reputation and well-being." Id. at 249. Because possession of child pornography offends conventional morality and visits continuing injury on children, it is "vile, base or depraved and ... violates societal moral standards." Navarro-Lopez, 503 F.3d at 1074. Therefore, possession of child pornography under 18 U.S.C. 2252A(a)(5)(B) is a crime involving moral turpitude."); accord In re Olquin-Rufino, 23 I. & N. Dec. 896, 896 (BIA 2006) (Florida conviction of possession of child pornography, under Florida Statute 827.071(5) ("unlawful for any person to knowingly possess a photograph, motion picture, exhibition, show, representation, or other presentation which ... he or she knows to include any sexual conduct by a child"), constituted conviction of crime involving moral turpitude); See Iowa Supreme Court Attorney Disciplinary Bd. v. Blazek, 739 N.W.2d 67, 69 (Iowa 2007) (possession of child pornography is morally turpitudinous); Chapman v. Gooden, 974 So.2d 972, 977 (Ala.2007) (same); cf. In re Wolff, 490 A.2d 1118, 1120 (D.C.Ct.App.1985), vacated, 494 A.2d 932, aff'd, 511 A.2d 1047 (1986) (en banc) (same) (possession of child pornography is a crime involving moral turpitude).

This decision is incorrect. Museums, law enforcement agencies, court clerks, and academic researchers may possess these items without moral culpability of any kind. The issue of criminality of their possession hinges on whether the possession is unauthorized under law. This offense is therefore malum prohibitum, and should be considered a regulatory offense, rather than a crime of moral turpitude. It is, after all, mere private possession, rather than production or distribution.

CRIMES OF MORAL TURPITUDE - INTENT REQUIREMENT - SPECIFIC INTENT NOT REQUIRED FOR OFFENSE TO CONSTITUTE CMT
United States v. Santacruz, 563 F.3d 894 (9th Cir. Apr. 20, 2009) (per curiam) ("The lack of a specific intent requirement in 2252A(a)(5)(B) -which ba rs "knowing[ ]," as opposed to willful, possession of child pornography-does not change this result. Specific intent is not required for a crime to involve moral turpitude. See Nicanor-Romero v. Mukasey, 523 F.3d 992, 997 (9th Cir.2008) (recognizing that "a crime may qualify as one of moral turpitude even if the offense is malum prohibitum or does not require the prosecution to establish specific intent"), overruled on other grounds by Marmolejo-Campos v. Holder, 558 F.3d 903 (9th Cir.2009) (en banc); Navarro-Lopez, 503 F.3d at 1068 (not listing specific intent as an element of a crime of moral turpitude). Willful, evil intent need not be explicit in the statute if, as here, "such intent is implicit in the nature of the crime." Gonzales-Alvarado v. INS, 39 F.3d 245, 246 (9th Cir.1994) (quotation marks and citation omitted).").

CRIME OF MORAL TURPITUDE - FAILURE TO REGISTER AS A SEX OFFENDER NOT CMT
Plasencia-Ayala v. Mukasey, 516 F.3d 738 (9th Cir. Feb. 7, 2008) (Nevada conviction of failure to register as a sex offender, in violation of Nev. Rev. Stat. 179D.550, does not constitute a crime involving moral turpitude within the meaning of INA 237(a)(2)(A)(i)(I), 8 U.S.C. 1227(a)(2)(A)(i)(I), because the offense of conviction is a strict liability offense without any intent requirement), following Quintero-Salazar v. Keisler, 506 F.3d 688, 693 (9th Cir. 2007); Mei v. Ashcroft, 393 F.3d 737, 740 (7th Cir. 2004) ("crimes deemed not to involve moral turpitude ... are either very minor crimes that are deliberate or graver crimes committed without a bad intent, most clearly strict-liability crimes"), disagreeing with Matter of re Tobar-Lobo, 24 I. & N. Dec. 143 (BIA April 23, 2007) (California conviction of willful failure to register by a sex offender who has been previously apprised of the obligation to register, in violation of Penal Code 290(g)(1), is a crime involving moral turpitude).