United States v. Behrman, 258 U.S. 280 (1922), was a case decided by the Supreme Court of the United States

Supreme Court of the United States

The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all state and federal courts, and original jurisdiction over a small range of cases...

 holding that a violation of the Harrison Narcotics Act did not require a mens rea

Mens rea

Mens rea is Latin for "guilty mind". In criminal law, it is viewed as one of the necessary elements of a crime. The standard common law test of criminal liability is usually expressed in the Latin phrase, actus non facit reum nisi mens sit rea, which means "the act does not make a person guilty...

 element and was thus a strict liability

Strict liability

In law, strict liability is a standard for liability which may exist in either a criminal or civil context. A rule specifying strict liability makes a person legally responsible for the damage and loss caused by his or her acts and omissions regardless of culpability...

 crime.

Factual background

The defendant was a licensed physician that wrote prescriptions to Willie King for 150 grains of heroin, 360 grains of morphine

Morphine

Morphine is a potent opiate analgesic medication and is considered to be the prototypical opioid. It was first isolated in 1804 by Friedrich Sertürner, first distributed by same in 1817, and first commercially sold by Merck in 1827, which at the time was a single small chemists' shop. It was more...

, and 210 grains of cocaine

Cocaine

Cocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from "coca" in addition to the alkaloid suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system, an appetite suppressant, and a topical anesthetic...

 as part of a maintenance treatment. The defendant was indicted under the Harrison Act, but the district court

United States district court

The United States district courts are the general trial courts of the United States federal court system. Both civil and criminal cases are filed in the district court, which is a court of law, equity, and admiralty. There is a United States bankruptcy court associated with each United States...

dismissed the indictment.

Decision

The Supreme Court held that the facts were sufficient to support an indictment. The court held that the violation of the Harrison Act was a statutory offense, and because Congress had not written in a mental state element as part if the offense that the Court should not do so.

Dissent

Justice Holmes, joined by Justices Brandeis and McReynolds, dissented, saying that if the doctor had given the prescriptions in good faith and with reasonable care that he should have a defense.