SCOTUS to hear Sex Offender Case
The Supreme Court of the US has agreed to hear a sex offender case., Gundy v. United States.
The issues in the case are:
(1) Whether convicted sex offenders are “required to register” under the federal Sex Offender Notification and Registration Act while in custody, regardless of how long they have until release; (2) whether all offenders convicted of a qualifying sex offense prior to SORNA’s enactment are “required to register” under SORNA no later than August 1, 2008; (3) whether a defendant travels in interstate commerce for purposes of 18 U.S.C. § 2250(a) when his only movement between states occurs while he is in the custody of the Federal Bureau of Prisons and serving a prison sentence; and (4) whether SORNA’s delegation of authority to the attorney general to issue regulations under 42 U.S.C. § 16913 violates the nondelegation doctrine.
NOTE: only (4) is being taken up by the SCOTUS
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Gundy still does not seem to the “big one” where SCOTUS finally rules on the constitutionality of the Registry itself. Nonetheless it appears to me that they are inching their way to that.
I agree with others who think that good, or at least interesting outcomes will come from this case
The case is rather interesting. Sexual offense laws are so overreaching that it is threatening other governmental foundations. If it is inching it’s way there, it’s because instead of containing the fire, law makers keep fanning the fire towards the supreme court and they will eventually have no choice but to put it out themselves. Might even come sooner than we think – ” Hopeful ”
Justice Gorsuch would probably want to take a crack at SORNA again.
He doesn’t like government overreaching and does not like SORNA due to his dissent opinion in Nichols V. United States.
SCOTUS even agreed with Gorsuch’s dissent with SORNA in Nichols V. U.S. when they reversed the 10th circuit’s ruling.
scroll to the bottom of the page to Nichols.
https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2017-trump-supreme-court-nominee/
I was convicted in fl in march 2006. The sorna wasn’t in effect til July 2006. Does this affect my situation.
The date of your CHARGE is what matters actually. So yes, this most definitely may affect you.
Actually was charged in may of 2005. I figure if it is a good outcome then Florida will probably not notify anyone affected because thats how Florida is. We will have to do it ourselves
Are you sure it is based on your “Charge” ?? And not your “Conviction” Date ??. I was told several times it was our Conviction Date !!???. My Charge was Feb ’03, I’m hoping it based on the Charge Date, That puts me way before the SORNA crap !!.
The date of your charge determines what year statutes your punishment/ conviction falls under. For example, you get arrested for something that happens in May of 2017. You get convicted for the crime January of 2018. Because your charge occurred BEFORE October of 2017, you will be sentenced under the 2017 guidelines. This is Florida law btw. (I’m guessing other states and the federal system work the same way? )
I’m under the impression the same will hold true here.
That’s true because the judge said the Jessica Lunsford act didn’t apply to me because of the date of my charge
I may be wrong, but I believe the important date is not the date you were charged nor the conviction date, but rather the date the crime was allegedly committed (or the latest date if a date range was given.)
But Florida also don’t care when your date was. Anything changes to laws or statutes you still have to follow them. So your guidelines are whatever they desire to pass that year.
Or your day when released from prison or other sanctions or the date they picked at random, blah, blah, blah.
Date of OFFENSE is supposed to be the standard, not date of conviction. Had you been arrested for a crime say in January of 1990 and the crime was eliminated from the statutes in the 1990 spring legislative session , do you honestly think that you would have been let go with no further action if your case had not been resolved yet? Not bloody likely.
It is doubtful that SCOTUS took up this case to affirm the district and circuit court. This could be good news in the making.
The more I read the more interesting this becomes. My conviction was in 2000. This registration requirement almost sounds as though it crosses the line of ex-post facto. As in my case and in the cases of a vast majority of ex-sex offenders, I am certain that the registry is a waste of valuable law enforcement time. I follow sex related arrests in the news and without a doubt very, very few re-offenses are committed by anyone on the registry. It’s amazing that we have so many legislators who are not guided by facts but by paranoia. How can a nation survive with that kind of quality in our lawmakers?
I would like a better explanation as to what this case actually means to the average person being forced to register. In my case does it affect me as My conviction was in 1991 and am being forced to register?
Here is a quick summary taken from: https://thinkprogress.org/gorsuch-environmental-regulation-epa-892f82ff3bc3/
SORNA was enacted in 2006, and it applied automatically to all sex offenders who were convicted after it took effect. The provision of SORNA at issue in Gundy provides that “the Attorney General shall have the authority to specify the applicability of the requirements of this subchapter to sex offenders convicted before the enactment of this chapter or its implementation in a particular jurisdiction, and to prescribe rules for the registration of any such sex offenders.”
Pursuant to this power, the Justice Department issued a sweeping rule which provided that “the requirements of the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act apply to all sex offenders, including sex offenders convicted of the offense for which registration is required prior to the enactment of that Act.” Thus, even though Gundy was convicted in 2005, before SORNA was law, DOJ regulations require him to register as a sex offender.
Gundy’s lawyer argues, however, that this delegation of authority to the Attorney General violates a largely defunct constitutional doctrine known as “Nondelegation.”
From reading the SCOTUS Blog it seems that they will take up this case during the next term/session. Does that mean they won’t place it on the docket until the first Monday in Oct 2018?
These cases are very confusing to me.. What would be the potential impact be at the state level since states have enacted laws that require registration and not “policies/rules”? For example I think Florida law states anything after 1997.
I see this as a very narrow scope and that is the nondelegation doctrine, whether or not the DOJ had the authority to issues these rules, and not addressing ex post facto at all?? Since the states have been given a blank checkbook to write these laws, I don’t see a win in this one. I hope my assumptions are wrong..
According to my research, President George W. Bush signed AWA into law on July 27, 2006. So if Gundy wins his case, everyone convicted, charged, offended, etc. before that date would no longer be required to register? Would this apply to federal cases only or state also?
That is incorrect. people would still be required to register.
People would still be required to register in the state of their conviction if their offense pre-dates SORNA. What if an individual whose conviction occurred prior to SORNA’s enactment moved from the state they were required to register in? Would that enable folks to move without having to register in a different State, or will states be allowed to defer to their own registration requirements concerning folks convicted elsewhere? Thanks for any info.
Please explain why they would still be required to register if their conviction pre-dates SORNA? If that’s the case, why bother with it?
Not under federal requirements, but potentially under their state requirements. Depends on each state (since this is SCOTUS, the decision will impact all states).
There are a number of states that are not Adam Walsh Act (which is where SORNA originates) compliant. They don’t want to comply because it’s burdensome and ineffective. Now they won’t have to, as applied to PRE-SORNA registrants.
Additionally, many people are convicted FEDERALLY for registration violations that they may otherwise not have been hit with. It’s then up to the State to see whether (a) it would be a requirement that’s a violation under their laws, and (b) whether they even want to prosecute.
I was federal. Only got home confienmnt and probation (rare) it was 1998. So would this affect me? Only got caught up in every retroactive b.s. since then and stuck in florida.
Does your J&C require you comply with the sex offender laws of Florida?
Dunno what a j&c is i resided in ny and never everrr an issue. Got me on a failure to register here in florida but the case was dropped and a no information filed. For aome reason though the correction capt literally put me on the florida list that same night while processing. Then told me i needed to go to register when i got out. Thought that was kinda of odd. No court order no seeing a judge no due process just the c.o. Personally putting me on the registry in florida when i even had an airline ticket to go back to ny the next day. Have nothing from florida that told me to do it.
We are trying to organize a lawsuit to challenge FL registry for out of state registrants but we’re having a hard time pooling plaintiffs and funds for it.
If anyone is interested, contact [email protected]
So Floriduh, which is overly-AWA compliant, would still require someone with a state conviction prior to July 2006 to register even if SCOTUS rules post-SORNA registration invalid?
Yes – florida’s registry was 1997
But a federal conviction?
You mention the 1997 FL law for registry. How is that original one different from the AWA. and were there any additional requirements between 1997 and 2006 that would effect FL registrants
One is a State law. One is a Federal Law.
The federal law, passed in 2006, added a laundry list of requirements state registries had to have. Some states, such as Florida, already had, for the most part, requirements that were harsher than the AWA. Whatever was not harsh enough was added. Plus every year we get NEW punishments on top of that.
Well, that just sucks! So in reality, there is no relief to be had for registered citizens in Floriduh! Time to move! At least in Georgia the courts are striking down many of the unconstitutional provisions.
What has Georgia struck down? I didn’t realize they were any less zealous than floriduh.
DW,
Here’s the Georgia FAQ:
https://gbi.georgia.gov/sex-offender-registry-frequently-asked-questions
Thanks very much for the information. Have a blessed day.
JZ,
I just read the gbi link. Georgia still okey-dokes folks with the ol’ if you were on probation or released from custody after 1997? I was encouraged when I read if one’s crime was committed post-1996, but then the kicker. I’m sure they are not as evil as floriduh. No place in the union is as far as I can tell. It’s big business down here, which is why I doubt our ability to get judicial relief. Praying I’m wrong.
I’m not sure about all Georgia’s other “requirements” but just having to register if one’s crime predates the legislation is an affront to Justice, let alone all the crap they keep adding to folks whose crimes were committed after. There truly seems to be no escape anywhere in Fascist Amerika.
Hoping everyone, everywhere, gets some relief from these garbage laws.
I was getting psyched reading through the bullets under “who is required to register”. But that last bullet, requiring me to register solely because I’m required to register here in Florida sucks. Too many states add that EASY qualification for registration.
Therein lies the okey-doke. Great bunch of lawmakers we got ourselves nationwide huh.
Georgia at least has an escape hatch for low tier offenders that have not reoffended after 10 years. Good luck getting off of Florida’s registry though, even if you only successfully deregistered elsewhere and visited here for a couple of days several years ago.
Yes indeed….floriduh is its own special kind of hell on earth. Gotta be a special place in the other one for the pandering POSs that fear-mongered society into buying such un-constitutional nonsense.
Brought to you by Alberto Gonzalez, that titan of legal scholarship. LOL
Awaiting the results.
Dunno what a j&c is i resided in ny and never everrr an issue. Got me on a failure to register here in florida but the case was dropped and a no information filed. For aome reason though the correction capt literally put me on the florida list that same night while processing. Then told me i needed to go to register when i got out. Thought that was kinda of odd. No court order no seeing a judge no due process just the c.o. Personally putting me on the registry in florida when i even had an airline ticket to go back to ny the next day.