United States v. Wulff

Wulff (defendant) was charged under the felony provision of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act for selling a federal agent a necklace made of protected bird parts; the felony provision, unlike the Act's separate misdemeanor provision, contained no requirement of guilty knowledge (scienter). The district court dismissed the felony indictment, holding a conviction under that scienter-free felony provision would violate Wulff's due process rights, and ruled that if convicted, Wulff should instead be sentenced under the misdemeanor provision; the government appealed.