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Lambert v. California
Supreme Court of the United States (1957)
Plaintiff/Respondent: California
Defendant/Petitioner: Lambert; the defendant was an ex-felon and upon moving to Los Angeles, she failed to register her name which was required for all the ex-felons living in LA. She was arrested and charged with the crime. The defendant argued that she had no idea that she had to register her name and she argued that convicting her would deprive her of Due Process.
Issue: Should the defendant's ignorance of registering law be used as a defense?
Holding: Yes
Legal Reasoning: The defendant's failure to register was a "wholly passive" act. The defendant was not given any notice and she was not aware of any such statue. The statue also did not serve any obvious purpose which could have made it popular among the public. The court held that punishing a person for a statue of which she had no actual knowledge or "probability of knowledge" would be too severe for the society to accept. The defendant's conviction was reversed.