The Model Penal Code is the most successful, attempt to codify American criminal law to date. The Model Penal Code is not law and has no binding effect. It has, however, been the model for many state criminal codes and has been very influential on state and local lawmakers.
Some of the Model Penal Code provisions have not been widely accepted. For example, while the Model Penal Code generally rejects the common law’s “felony murder” rule, which in its broadest form holds all killings in the course of a felony to be murder, while most states have retained the rule.
