The Order Form

In 1914 Congress passed the Narcotic Act, requiring that certain drugs be sold only pursuant to a written order on a form issued by the Government. The Defendant and his associates were indicted for selling a quantity of drugs — a compound containing a derivative of opium and a derivative of coca leaves — without the required order form. The indictment did not allege that the Defendant knew the drugs he sold were narcotics covered by the Act. The Defendant demurred, arguing that the indictment was fatally defective precisely because it charged no guilty knowledge: a person should not be branded a criminal for a sale he did not know was forbidden. The trial Court agreed and quashed the indictment, and the Prosecution appealed. The question for the Supreme Court was whether Congress could make the sale of these drugs a crime without requiring the Prosecution to prove that the seller knew what he was selling was prohibited — in other words, whether ignorance that the goods were narcotics was any defence at all.