People v. K. Sakai Co.

The District Attorney of San Francisco filed an action on behalf of the public under Civil Code section 3369 against the corporate owner and operators of a grocery store in a predominantly Japanese quarter of San Francisco to enjoin the sale of canned whale meat in violation of Penal Code sections 653o and 653r. Section 653o, originally enacted in 1970 and operative December 1, 1970, made it unlawful to. import into the state for commercial purposes, or to possess with intent to sell, or to sell the dead body or any part or product thereof of named endangered species of animals and amphibians. It did not then apply to a product imported prior to December 1, 1970, and did not include whales in the named species. In 1971 the said section was amended to include whales, and section 653r was added. The new section made it a misdemeanor to possess with intent to sell, or to sell “after June 1, 1972, the dead body, or any part or product thereof, of any fish, bird, amphibian, reptile, or mammal specified in Section 653o or 653p.” Such possession or sale of whales (or other species named), regardless of the date of importation, became a misdemeanor.

In December of 1970, the…