Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-caed-2_14-cv-02993/USCOURTS-caed-2_14-cv-02993-2/pdf.json

Nature of Suit Code: 360
Nature of Suit: Other Personal Injury
Cause of Action: 28:1331 Fed. Question: Tort Action

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 

FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 

RODERICK L. MITCHELL, 

Plaintiff, 

v. 

JERRY BROWN, GOVERNOR OF 

CALIFORNIA, et al., 

Defendants. 

No. 2:14-cv-2993 MCE AC (PS) 

FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 

 Plaintiff is proceeding in this action pro se and in forma pauperis. This proceeding was 

referred to this court by Local Rule 302(c)(21). On February 3, 2015, the court permitted 

plaintiff’s Section 1983 claim against the Governor to proceed. ECF No. 3. Plaintiff alleges that 

California’s version of Megan’s Law, as amended in 2004, Cal. Penal Code § 290.46, violates his 

rights under the Ex Post Fact Clause of the U.S. Constitution. 

 The Governor has now moved to dismiss on sovereign immunity grounds, asserting that 

the face of the complaint shows that he is immune from suit and therefore, he argues, this court 

lacks subject matter jurisdiction over the case against him. In the alternative, the Governor moves 

to dismiss the complaint for failure to state a claim. 

I. SUBJECT MATTER JURISDICTION 

 The Governor argues that this court lacks subject matter jurisdiction over the case against 

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him because he enjoys Eleventh Amendment sovereign immunity. Defendant’s Motion for 

Summary Judgment (“Defendant’s Motion”) (ECF No. 9 at 10-13. However, “[t]he [Eleventh] 

Amendment . . . enacts a sovereign immunity from suit, rather than a nonwaivable limit on the 

federal judiciary's subject matter jurisdiction.” Idaho v. Couer d'Alene Tribe, 521 U.S. 261, 267 

(1997); Hill v. Blind Industries and Services of Maryland,179 F.3d 754, 760 (9th Cir. 1999), as 

amended, 201 F.3d 1186 (2000) (“the Eleventh Amendment is not a true limitation upon the 

court's subject matter jurisdiction, but rather a personal privilege that a state may waive”). 

Accordingly, the Governor’s motion will be considered under the standards applicable to motions 

to dismiss under Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6). See ASARCO, LLC v. Union Pacific R. Co., 765 F.3d 

999, 1004 (9th Cir. 2014) (“Dismissal under Rule 12(b)(6) on the basis of an affirmative defense 

is proper only if the defendant shows some obvious bar to securing relief on the face of the 

complaint”). 

II. DISMISSAL STANDARD UNDER RULE 12(b)(6) 

 “A motion to dismiss under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) for failure to state a 

claim upon which relief can be granted tests the legal sufficiency of a claim.” Conservation Force 

v. Salazar, 646 F.3d 1240, 1242 (9th Cir. 2011) (internal quotation marks omitted), cert. denied, 

132 S. Ct. 1762 (2012). “Dismissal can be based on the lack of a cognizable legal theory or the 

absence of sufficient facts alleged under a cognizable legal theory.” Balistreri v. Pacifica Police 

Dep't, 901 F.2d 696, 699 (9th Cir. 1990). 

 For a complaint to be dismissed because the allegations give rise to an affirmative 

defense, the allegations of the complaint must “‘suffice to establish’ the defense.” Sams v. 

Yahoo! Inc., 713 F.3d 1175, 1179 (9th Cir. 2013) (quoting Jones v. Bock, 549 U.S. 199, 215 

(2007)). Those allegations must show some “obvious” and “insuperable” bar to securing relief. 

ASARCO, 765 F.3d at 1004 (citing 5B Charles Alan Wright et al., Federal Practice and 

Procedure § 1357 (3d ed.1998) (“a dismissal under Rule 12(b)(6) is likely to be granted by the 

district court only in the relatively unusual case in which the plaintiff includes allegations that 

show on the face of the complaint that there is some insuperable bar to securing relief . . .”)). 

However, “[i]f, from the allegations of the complaint as well as any judicially noticeable 

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materials, an asserted defense raises disputed issues of fact, dismissal under Rule 12(b)(6) is 

improper.” Id. (citing Scott v. Kuhlmann, 746 F.2d 1377, 1378 (9th Cir.1984) (per curiam)). 

 In reviewing a challenged complaint under Rule 12(b)(6), the court “must accept as true 

all of the factual allegations contained in the complaint,” Erickson v. Pardus, 551 U.S. 89, 94 

(2007) (citing Twombly, 550 U.S. at 555-56), construe those allegations in the light most 

favorable to the plaintiff, Von Saher v. Norton Simon Museum of Art at Pasadena, 592 F.3d 954, 

960 (9th Cir. 2010) (citing Twombly), and resolve all doubts in the plaintiff's favor. Hebbe v. 

Pliler, 627 F.3d 338, 340 (9th Cir. 2010) (citing Hospital Bldg. Co. v. Trustees of Rex Hospital, 

425 U.S. 738 (1976)). The court need not accept as true, legal conclusions “cast in the form of 

factual allegations.” Western Mining Council v. Watt, 643 F.2d 618, 624 (9th Cir. 1981). 

III. THE COMPLAINT 

 The complaint alleges that on November 4, 2000, plaintiff was convicted of sex crimes 

that occurred in December 1998 and August 1999. Complaint (ECF No. 1) at 12. It further 

alleges that plaintiff became obligated to “register with local law enforcement and be placed on a 

classification & notification Internet data base per ‘Megan’s Law’ which was enacted in 

November of 2004.” Id. The complaint alleges that because these obligations arose after the 

commission of the crimes, after the charges were brought, and after the conviction was obtained, 

the statute imposing them violates the Ex Post Facto Clause of the U.S. Constitution. 

 In his brief opposing the Governor’s motion to dismiss, however, plaintiff clarifies that he 

is only challenging, on ex post facto grounds, that portion of the law that “requires Plaintiff to be 

placed on an internet data base web site,” the obligation that was enacted in 2004. Plaintiff’s 

Memorandum of Points and Authorities in Opposition to Motion To Dismiss (“Plaintiff’s 

Opposition”) (ECF No. 15) at 4. 

IV. ANALYSIS 

 A. Eleventh Amendment Immunity 

 1. The proper defendant 

 The Eleventh Amendment bars suits against a state, absent the state’s affirmative waiver 

of its immunity or congressional abrogation of that immunity. Papasan v. Allain, 478 U.S. 265, 

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276-77 (1986) (citing Pennhurst v. Halderman, 465 U.S. 89 (1984)). A suit that seeks to enjoin 

enforcement of a statute, and names the Governor as a defendant, is a suit against the State, unless 

the governor has “some connection with the enforcement” of the statute: 

In making an officer of the state a party defendant in a suit to enjoin 

the enforcement of an act alleged to be unconstitutional, it is plain 

that such officer must have some connection with the enforcement 

of the act, or else it is merely making him a party as a representative 

of the state, and thereby attempting to make the state a party. 

Ex parte Young, 209 U.S. 123, 157 (1908); Los Angeles County Bar Ass'n v. Eu, 979 F.2d 697, 

704 (9th Cir. 1992) (“[t]his connection must be fairly direct; a generalized duty to enforce state 

law or general supervisory power over the persons responsible for enforcing the challenged 

provision will not subject an official to suit”). However, a suit seeking only to enjoin the proper 

state official from enforcing an unconstitutional state statute, faces no Eleventh Amendment 

sovereign immunity bar.1

 National Audubon Society, Inc. v. Davis, 307 F.3d 835, 847 (9th Cir.) 

(9th Cir.), as amended, 312 F.3d 416 (2002) (“[u]nder the principle of Ex Parte Young, private 

individuals may sue state officials for prospective relief against ongoing violations of federal 

law”). 

 The Governor argues that he must be dismissed because “the Complaint alleges no 

connection between the Governor and the enforcement of Megan’s Law.” Defendant’s Motion 

at 12. Since sovereign immunity is an affirmative defense, and not a matter of subject matter 

jurisdiction, this normally would not be sufficient to obtain a dismissal. However, in this case, 

the critical underlying facts may be discerned from the statute itself and other, binding authority, 

discussing the Governor’s role in law enforcement. The challenged statute does not itself grant 

the Governor any authority, nor does it authorize or require him to place names on the website, 

nor to maintain the website, nor does it authorize the Governor to remove names from the 

website. See Cal. Penal Code § 290.46. 

 Rather, the statute requires the California Department of Justice to make the sex offender 

 

1

 At oral argument on this motion, the court asked the Governor’s counsel to identify who is the 

official who has the ability to grant the requested relief, namely, removal of plaintiff’s name from 

the website. The Governor declined to name any official, inasmuch as no other official has yet 

been named as a defendant in this case, or served. ECF No. 18. 

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information available on a publicly available website, and to “update the Internet Web site on an 

ongoing basis.” Id. § 290.46(a). The Attorney General of California is the head of the 

Department of Justice. Cal. Gov. Code § 12510. The statute also specifically names the Attorney 

General (along with district attorneys and city attorneys) as the person to enforce certain other 

sections of the law, and to interact with the public and others regarding the use of the publicly 

available information put on the website. See Cal. Penal Code § 290.46(l)(4)(B), (o). 

 Because the statute does not create any connection between the Governor and the statute, 

and no other connection is alleged in the complaint, the court concludes from the face of 

complaint that plaintiff is suing the Governor based upon the Governor’s general supervisory 

authority as Governor, or possibly whatever general duty he may have to enforce California law. 

See Cal. Gov. Code §§ 12010 (“The Governor shall supervise the official conduct of all executive 

and ministerial officers”), 12011 (“The Governor shall see that all offices are filled and their 

duties performed”). However, this is an insufficient connection to the enforcement of this law to 

overcome the bar of sovereign immunity. See Association des Eleveurs de Canards et d'Oies du 

Quebec v. Harris, 729 F.3d 937, 943 (9th Cir. 2013) (“Governor Brown is entitled to Eleventh 

Amendment immunity because his only connection to § 25982 [banning the sale of foie gras] is 

his general duty to enforce California law”), cert. denied, 135 S. Ct. 398 (2014). 

 Accordingly, the Governor will be dismissed from this lawsuit on the basis of his 

sovereign immunity defense. However, plaintiff will be granted an opportunity to amend his 

complaint to name a proper defendant. Since plaintiff will have the opportunity to so amend his 

complaint, the court will go on to address the Governor’s other sovereign immunity argument, 

since it will similarly apply to whichever state official plaintiff names as a defendant. 

 2. Threat of enforcement 

 The Governor argues that in order to get past Eleventh Amendment sovereign immunity, 

there must be “a threat of enforcement,” relying upon Long v. Van de Kamp, 961 F.2d 151, 152 

(9th Cir. 1992) (per curiam). Defendant’s Motion at 12. However, no threat of enforcement is 

required. After discussing Long, the Ninth Circuit in National Audubon Society expressly 

rejected California’s argument that “the Ex Parte Young exception ‘require[s] a genuine threat of 

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enforcement by a state official before a federal court’ can hear a party’s claims.” National 

Audubon Society, 307 F.3d at 846. The Ninth Circuit there explained that Long (and similar 

cases): 

are concerned with plaintiffs circumventing the Eleventh 

Amendment under Ex Parte Young simply by suing any state 

executive official. That is, they are concerned with the question of 

“who” rather than “when.” . . . We decline to read additional 

“ripeness” or “imminence” requirements into the Ex Parte Young 

exception to Eleventh Amendment immunity in actions for 

declaratory relief beyond those already imposed by a general 

Article III and prudential ripeness analysis. The Article III and 

prudential ripeness requirements . . . are tailored to address 

problems occasioned by an unripe controversy. There is thus no 

need to strain Ex Parte Young doctrine to serve that purpose. 

Id. at 846-47. The court concludes that in the Ninth Circuit, no “threat of enforcement” is 

required to overcome Eleventh Amendment sovereign immunity. 

 B. Constitutionality of Megan’s Law 

 Although the court will dismiss the Governor from this lawsuit, the question still remains 

whether granting plaintiff leave to amend by substituting a different defendant should be granted. 

If plaintiff’s lawsuit is plainly hopeless, the court will not waste scarce judicial resources by 

permitting plaintiff to amend, and then separately addressing yet another motion to dismiss, this 

time on the merits. See, e.g., Foman v. Davis, 371 U.S. 178, 182 (1962) (leave to amend shall be 

freely granted “in the absence of any apparent or declared reason,” including “futility of 

amendment”). Accordingly, the court considers the facial sufficiency of plaintiff’s claim. 

 1. Chronology 

 At the time plaintiff committed the sex offenses for which he was convicted, Megan’s 

Law already provided for the registration of certain sex offenders. Cal. Penal Code § 290; Hatton 

v. Bonner, 356 F.3d 955, 959 (9th Cir. 2004) (noting that “California's sex-offender registration 

statute requires persons convicted of various sex offenses to register with local law enforcement 

authorities,” and discussing the offenses to which the requirement applied in 1983, 1991 and 

1993). The law also provided for the collection and public disclosure of information regarding 

“high risk” sex offenders. See Wright v. Superior Court, 15 Cal. 4th 521, 529 (1997) (the law 

authorizes “law enforcement agencies to disclose information, including street addresses, about 

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certain high risk sex offenders as well as advise the public of their presence”); Doe v. California 

Dept. of Justice, 173 Cal. App. 4th 1095, 1102 (4th Dist. 2009) (even before the internet database 

requirement was enacted in 2004, California's Megan's Law provided “for the collection and 

public disclosure of information regarding sex offenders required to register under section 290”). 

 In 2004, California amended Megan’s Law by enacting Cal. Penal Code § 290.46. That 

provision requires the California Department of Justice to “make available to the public, via an 

Internet Web site,” information about convicted offenders who are required to register under 

Section 290. Cal. Pen. Code § 290.46(a); Doe, 173 Cal. App. 4th at 1102 (“In 2004 the 

Legislature enacted section 290.46, which requires the Department to maintain an Internet Web 

site that includes information on persons convicted of specified sex offenses, such as the 

offender's name, address, aliases, photograph, physical description, date of birth, criminal history 

and other information the Department deems relevant”). It is this amendment that plaintiff 

alleges violates his ex post facto rights. 

 Defendant moves to dismiss, arguing that Megan’s Law, including the broad publication 

of offender information on the Internet, is “nonpunitive.” Defendant’s Motion at 13; Defendant’s 

Reply Brief in Support of Motion To Dismiss Complaint (“Defendant’s Reply”) (ECF No. 16) 

at 7-8. 

 2. Ex post facto law 

 In order to determine whether § 290.46 constitutes “retroactive punishment forbidden by 

the Ex Post Facto Clause,” the court must undertake the “two-step analysis” prescribed by Smith 

v. Doe, 538 U.S. 84 (2003). Hatton, 356 F.3d at 961. 

 First, the court “must decide whether the intent of the California legislature” in enacting 

§ 290.46 “was to impose punishment on sex offenders.” Hatton, 356 F.3d at 961; American Civil 

Liberties Union of Nevada v. Masto, 670 F.3d 1046, 1053 (9th Cir. 2012) (“The first step of the 

inquiry requires courts to determine whether the legislature intended to impose a criminal 

punishment or whether its intent was to enact a nonpunitive regulatory scheme”). If the answer is 

“yes,” the court’s analysis ends “because retroactive application of the statute would constitute an 

ex post facto violation.” Hatton, 356 F.3d at 961; Masto, 670 F.3d at 1053 (if there is a punitive 

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intent, “that is the end of the inquiry”).

 If, however, the intent of the California legislature was to enact “a nonpunitive and civil 

regulatory regime,” the court moves to the second step of the analysis. Id. at 962. There, the 

court must decide whether § 290.46 “is ‘so punitive either in purpose or effect as to negate [the 

State's] intention to deem it civil.’” Id. (quoting Smith, 538 U.S. at 92). Under this second step, 

“‘only the clearest proof will suffice to override legislative intent and transform what has been 

denominated a civil remedy into a criminal penalty.’” Id. (quoting Smith, 538 U.S. at 92). 

 a. First step: legislative intent 

 In support of his argument that the California legislature’s intent in enacting Cal. Penal 

Code § 290.46 was “nonpunitive,” the Governor cites (1) Smith, a Supreme Court case holding 

that Alaska’s legislature, in enacting its own version of Megan’s Law, had no punitive intent; (2) 

Ninth Circuit cases addressing the legislative intent of provisions of Megan’s law other than the 

challenged provision, Section 290.46; and (3) California cases, one of which addresses the 

legislative intent behind Section 290.46. 

 i. Smith v. Doe 

 In 2003, the Supreme Court found that Alaska’s version of Megan’s Law did not violate 

the Ex Post Facto clause when applied retroactively. Smith, 538 U.S. 84. The Court examined 

several facts relating to the enactment, implementation and enforcement of Alaska’s version of 

Megan’s Law, and concluded in the first part of the ex post facto inquiry, that the Alaska 

legislature’s intent “was to create a civil, nonpunitive regime.” Id. at 96 (emphasis added). In 

reaching this conclusion, the Court specifically examined (1) the statutory text for evidence of the 

“objective of the law,” (2) other “formal attributes” of the legislative enactment, including “the 

manner of its codification,” (3) the “procedural mechanisms to implement the Act,” and (4) the 

determination of which agency would be vested with the power to implement the law. Smith, 538 

U.S. at 93-96. Only after examining and fleshing out these factors did the Court reach its 

conclusion that the law was intended to be “nonpunitive.” Id. 

 The Governor appears to argue that the intent of the California legislature was also 

nonpunitive because the law that resulted is substantively identical to that of Alaska’s. It does 

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appear that in their implementation, the statutes are quite similar.2 However, the Governor offers 

no explanation for why similar looking legislation must have resulted from identical non-punitive 

intents, and the court knows of none. 

 ii. Ninth Circuit cases 

 The Governor further argues that “the Ninth Circuit has repeatedly held that California's 

scheme is nonpunitive and does not violate the Ex Post Facto Clause,” citing Hatton, 356 F.3d 

at 963-64, Doe v. Harris, 640 F.3d 972, 975-76 (9th Cir. 2011), and United States v. Hardeman, 

704 F.3d 1266, 1268 (9th Cir. 2013). Defendant’s Motion at 9; Defendant’s Reply at 8. This 

argument is entirely unpersuasive. 

 In Hatton, a habeas corpus case decided under the Antiterrorism and Effective Death 

Penalty Act of 1996 (“AEDPA”), 28 U.S.C. § 2254(d), the Ninth Circuit addressed the 

petitioner’s challenge to Cal. Penal Code § 290, which retroactively required that he register as a 

sex offender. See Hatton, 356 F.3d at 959-61. The case did not address Section 290.46, the 

statute challenged here, or the broad public dissemination regime – via the Internet – that it 

imposed. 

 In addition, Hatton followed the prescription set forth in Doe, and closely examined the 

legislative history, the language of the statute, pronouncements of the California Supreme Court, 

and the codification structure of the statute. Each of these factors applied to Section 290, the 

requirement to register with local law enforcement, not to Section 290.46, the requirement that 

the offender’s information be posted publicly on the Internet. The Governor has not addressed 

how those factors apply to Section 290.46. Nor does he show that the Section 290.46 

 

2

 Both states make similar information about sex offenders available to the public by posting the 

information on a website. Although the Alaska statute does not require sex offender information 

to be posted on an Internet website, see Alaska Stat. § 18.65.087, “Alaska has chosen to make 

most of the nonconfidential information available on the Internet.” Smith, 538 U.S. at 91. Both 

make similar information about the sex offender publicly available. The principal differences are: 

Alaska discloses the offender’s “place of employment,” while California does not; Alaska 

discloses the offender’s address, while California discloses it only for some offenses, and only 

discloses the “community of residence and ZIP code” for the rest; and California requires 

disclosure of the offender’s motor vehicles and his “SARATSO” “risk” level, while Alaska does 

not. Compare Alaska Stat. § 18.65.087(b), with Cal. Penal Code § 290.46(b)(1), (c)(1) 

and (d)(1). 

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requirements are sufficiently similar to the Section 290 requirements that it would be plausible to 

find that the legislative intent for one carries over to the other. 

 In any event, as noted, Hatton was reviewing a state court denial of a habeas corpus 

petition under the deferential standard imposed by AEDPA. In doing so, it found that (1) “the 

state court reasonably concluded that the legislature's intent was not punitive,” and (2) the state 

court did not err, under AEDPA standards, in finding that the statute was not “‘so punitive either 

in purpose or effect as to negate [the State's] intention to deem it civil.’” Id. at 961-67 (quoting 

Smith, 123 S. Ct. at 1147). This case is not a deferential AEDPA review of a state court decision 

denying habeas relief, and Hatton therefore does not compel a finding that Section 290.46 was 

enacted with a non-punitive intent. 

 The Governor next cites Doe v. Harris, 640 F.3d 972, 975-76 (9th Cir. 2011). However, 

that case is about whether the application of Megan’s Law violated the offender’s plea agreement. 

It does not contain a holding relating to the ex post facto effect of any provision of Megan’s Law. 

Indeed, it contains no holding of any kind, as the decision only referred a question of contract 

interpretation to the California Supreme Court. Doe, 640 F.3d at 973. Its only reference to the 

Ex Post Facto clause is its mention of Hatton and Smith, discussed above, in a footnote. See id. at 

975 n.3. 

 Finally, the Governor cites United States v. Hardeman, 704 F.3d 1266, 1267 (9th Cir. 

2013). In that case, the defendant challenged a federal law, 18 U.S.C. § 2260, that “criminalizes 

the commission of certain federal offenses involving a minor while the perpetrator is under a legal 

duty to register as a sex offender.” Once again, the case is not about the ex post facto effect of 

Megan’s Law, although, like Doe, it does mention Hatton and Smith. However, if anything, 

Hardeman tends to undercut the Governor’s argument, because it states that “[t]he reason why 

those laws [Alaska’s Megan’s law, and Section 290], standing alone, do not violate ex post facto 

principles is that registration itself is not considered punitive.” Id. at 1268 (emphasis in text). 

Here, plaintiff is not challenging the registration provisions of Megan’s Law, Section 290, but 

rather the broad publication of his personal information on the Internet required by 

Section 290.46. 

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 iii. State cases 

 The Governor argues that state court cases establish that the California Legislature had a 

non-punitive intent in enacting Section 290.46, citing People v. Castellanos, 21 Cal. 4th 785, 799 

(1999), and Doe, 173 Cal. App. 4th at 1114-15. This argument fails. First, Castellanos was 

decided five years before Section 290.46 was enacted, and does not address the punitive or nonpunitive intent of the legislature in enacting that legislation. 

 Second, even if Castellanos did address that Section – and Doe does address an 

amendment to Section 290.46 – the question of whether a state enactment has a non-punitive 

intent is a federal question. “In applying the ex post facto prohibition of the Federal Constitution 

to state laws, a federal court accepts the meaning ascribed to them by the highest court of the 

state.” Murtishaw v. Woodford, 255 F.3d 926, 964-65 (9th Cir. 2001), cert. denied, 535 U.S. 935 

(2002). But when its meaning is thus established, the issue of whether there has been an ex post 

facto violation is a constitutional question to be determined by the federal court. Id. at 965. 

 The Governor’s mere citation to the state court decisions is therefore ineffective. If the 

Governor believes those decisions should be followed because they are persuasive on the 

question, then he is free to argue that point. Thus far, he has not done so. 

 b. Second step: practical effect 

 Even if the court were to find that the California legislature had no intent to punish, it 

must then consider whether § 290.46 “is so punitive either in purpose or effect as to negate [the 

State's] intention to deem it civil.” Smith, 538 U.S. at 84 (internal quotation marks omitted). In 

analyzing the effects of Alaska’s version of Megan’s law, the Supreme Court referred “to the 

seven factors noted in Kennedy v. Mendoza-Martinez, 372 U.S. 144, 168 69 (1963),” which are 

“useful guideposts” in ex post facto analysis. Smith, 538 U.S. at 97. Of those seven: 

[t]he factors most relevant to our analysis are whether, in its 

necessary operation, the regulatory scheme: [1] has been regarded 

in our history and traditions as a punishment; [2] imposes an 

affirmative disability or restraint; [3] promotes the traditional aims 

of punishment; [4] has a rational connection to a nonpunitive 

purpose; or is [5] excessive with respect to this purpose. 

Id. at 97. 

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 The Governor says nothing about whether the statute’s effects are so punitive in nature as 

to negate the legislature’s intent to make the law civil. Nor does he address any of the factors 

used to make this determination. The Supreme Court analyzed these factors at some length 

before concluding that “respondents cannot show . . . that the effects of the law negate Alaska’s 

intention to establish a civil regulatory scheme.” Id. at 97 105. Similarly, in Hatton, the Ninth 

Circuit analyzed, at length, all seven factors set out in Kennedy. Hatton, 356 F.3d at 963. Those 

factors are: 

(1) whether the sanction involves an affirmative disability or 

restraint; (2) whether the sanction has historically been regarded as 

a punishment; (3) whether the sanction comes into play only on a 

finding of scienter; (4) whether the sanction's operation will 

promote the traditional aims of punishment-retribution and 

deterrence; (5) whether the behavior to which the sanction applies 

is already a crime; (6) whether an alternative purpose to which the 

sanction rationally may be connected is assignable to it; and (7) 

whether the sanction appears excessive in relation to the alternative 

purpose assigned. 

Id. The Governor offers no similar analysis of the effects of Section 290.46. 

For all the reasons explained above, the Governor has not demonstrated that Section 

290.46 is non-punitive as a matter of law, or that plaintiff’s claims are otherwise facially 

insufficient to proceed. Accordingly, the court cannot conclude at this stage in the proceedings 

that permitting plaintiff to amend his complaint would be futile. 

V. CONCLUSION 

 For the reasons stated above, IT IS HEREBY RECOMMENDED that: 

 1. The Governor’s motion to dismiss (ECF No. 9), be GRANTED, but only to the extent 

that the Governor enjoys sovereign immunity from this suit; 

 2. Plaintiff be granted 30 days from the date of this order to amend his complaint by 

deleting the Governor as a defendant, and substituting a proper defendant; and 

3. These findings and recommendations are submitted to the United States District Judge 

assigned to the case, pursuant to the provisions of 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(l). Within 21 days after 

being served with these findings and recommendations, any party may file written objections with 

the court and serve a copy on all parties. Id.; see also Local Rule 304(b). Such a document 

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should be captioned “Objections to Magistrate Judge’s Findings and Recommendations.” Any 

response to the objections shall be filed with the court and served on all parties within fourteen 

days after service of the objections. Local Rule 304(d). Failure to file objections within the 

specified time may waive the right to appeal the District Court’s order. Turner v. Duncan, 158 

F.3d 449, 455 (9th Cir. 1998); Martinez v. Ylst, 951 F.2d 1153, 1156-57 (9th Cir. 1991). 

DATED: June 30, 2015 

Case 2:14-cv-02993-MCE-AC Document 19 Filed 06/30/15 Page 13 of 13