Criminal Code Improvement Act of 2015

H.R. 4002, the Criminal Code Improvement Act of 2015, aims to clarify federal criminal laws by establishing a default "guilty mind" (mens rea) standard. Under this bill, if a federal law does not specify a required state of mind for a crime, a person could only be convicted if the government proves they acted knowingly. For laws involving conduct that an average person would not realize is illegal, the government would further have to prove the defendant knew or had reason to believe their actions were unlawful.

The bill also seeks to increase transparency by requiring the Department of Justice to create and maintain a public, searchable index of all federal criminal offenses, including those found in agency regulations. By standardizing legal definitions and ensuring citizens cannot be convicted of obscure crimes they committed unknowingly, the bill intends to protect individuals from accidental violations of federal law.