ELR Citation: ELR 21252
No(s). 93-3439 (7th Cir. Jul 7, 1994)

The court affirms an individual's conviction under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA) for possessing bald eagle feathers that she received in the mail from a friend travelling in Canada. Addressing defendant's assertion that she lacked any criminal scienter, the court first holds that although the MBTA contains no express scienter requirement, the jury was instructed that it could not convict her unless it found that she knowingly possessed the feathers, which it did. The court notes that criminal offenses generally require only that the person knowingly engage in the conduct constituting the offense. The court next holds that defendant's conviction did not violate the U.S. Constitution's Due Process Clause. The conviction did not punish wholly passive conduct because defendant requested the feathers, signed for the package, complained that she had been waiting for it for eight weeks, and planned to use the feathers in a macrame project. Further, the MBTA section under which she was convicted is neither vague nor overbroad, but is clear and precise. Finally, the court holds that the district court properly denied defendant's motion to suppress evidence of the feathers that federal agents discovered when they searched the package at the airport. An airport search of a package sent from a foreign country into the United States is the functional equivalent of an international border search. Fourth Amendment standards do not restrict federal agents when they conduct such routine searches. Also, the agents did not violate statutory or regulatory standards: 19 U.S.C. §482 authorizes federal agents to search envelopes in which they may have reasonable cause to suspect there is merchandise that was illegally imported into the United States; and three examples of reasonable causes listed in the regulations implementing §482 were present here.

Counsel for Plaintiff
Lawrence Beaumont, Ass't U.S. Attorney
U.S. Attorney's Office
201 S. Vine St., Ste. 226, Urbana IL 61801
(217) 373-5875

Counsel for Defendant
Sherrie Goggin-Ward
Landau, Omahana & Kopka
1001 Warrenville Rd., Ste. 255, Lisle IL 60532
(708) 434-9630

Before BAUER and CUDAHY, Circuit Judges, and MORAN, District Judge.^*