Does fault matter?

In this article, I try to go beyond the traditional objections to strict liability public welfare offenses and confront other possible justifications for punishing non-culpable conduct. Specifically, I consider the following arguments: • Penalties for public welfare offenses are punishment by name only, thus traditional justifications for punishment are not needed; • Even if those penalties are punishment, punishing those who produce or threaten significant harm to others is not necessarily unjust; and • Even if such punishment is not entirely just, it is consistent with other widely accepted criminal law doctrines.