Lambert v. California

A Los Angeles ordinance required anyone convicted of a felony-level offense who lived in or repeatedly entered the city to register with the police, without any willfulness requirement built into the law, making mere unregistered presence in the city a crime. Lambert (defendant) was charged with violating the ordinance; at trial she tried to show she had no knowledge of the registration requirement, but the judge excluded that evidence, and a jury convicted her, resulting in a $250 fine and three years' probation. Lambert appealed, and the Supreme Court granted certiorari to decide whether convicting someone under this kind of strict, notice-free registration requirement violated due process.