Ford v. State

Citations

• 85 Md. 465
• 41 L.R.A. 551
• 37 A. 172
• 1897 Md. LEXIS 61

Syllabus

<p>Police Power — ■Criminal Law — Statute Prohibiting the Possession of Lottery or Policy Slips — Knowledge by Party that Prohibited Articles are in his Possession not Necessary — Constitutional Law — Lgnorance of Law or Fact.</p> <p>Laws reasonably necessary for the protection of the health, morals or safety of society are within the police power of the State and are constitutional.</p> <p>Since the suppression of lottery gambling is demanded in the interest of the public welfare, the Legislature has the power to prohibit, under a penalty, any one from having lottery, tickets in his possession, whether he knows what they are or not.</p> <p>As ignorance of the existence of a law is no excuse for its violation, so also ignorance of a fact necessary to be known in order to avoid a violation of the law will not excuse.</p> <p>When a statute prohibits the possession of certain articles, it is no excuse that a party does not know that the article possessed by him is a prohibited article.-</p> <p>The Act of 1894, chap. 310, provides that if any person shall have in his possession any book, list or slip of lottery or policy drawings etc., he shall be liable to indictment, etc., unless the possession be for the purpose of procuring evidence of a violation of the lottery law. Defendant was indicted under the statute and pleaded that the lottery slips which were found in his possession were.given to him to carry to a certain place, and that he did not know what the articles were. Held,</p> <p>iSt. That these facts constituted no defence, since under the statute the mere possession of the articles was made a'crime without regard to \\the purpose for which the party held them, and this crime was not made to depend upon knowledge by the party of the character of the articles.</p> <p>2nd. That the statute is not unconstitutional; it does not deprive a • party of the presumption of innocence to which he is entitled. The crime for which he is indicted is having lottery slips in his