## United States Court of App eals
F O R T H E E I G H T H C I R C U I T

__ __ __ __ __ _ No. 1 0- 21 31

__ __ __ __ __ _ Uni te d S ta te s o f Am eri ca, *
* App el le e, *
* App eal fro m

th e Uni te d S ta te s v. * Dis tri ct Co ur t fo r th e * W es te rn Dis tri ct of Ark an sa s. W il li am Earl M effo rd , * * [UNPUBLISHED] App el la nt

. *

__ __ __ __ __ _ Su bm it te d: Marc h 2 8, 2 01 2 Fi le d: Marc h 3 0, 2 01 2

__ __ __ __ __ _ Befo re WOL LMAN, MURPHY, an d GRUENDER, Ci rcu it Ju dg es

.

__ __ __ __ __ _ PER CURI AM.

Our pr ev io us op in io n in th is cas e, se e Uni te d St at es v. Mef fo rd , 41 7 F. App ’x 58 6 (8 th Ci r. 20 11 ) (u np ub li sh ed pe r cu ria m ), was va cat ed by th e Su pr em e Co ur t an d

rem an de d to us fo r reco ns id erat io n in li gh t of Reyn ol ds v. Uni te d St at es , 56 5 U.S. ---, 1 3 2 S. Ct

. 97 5 (2 01 2)

. Fo r th e reas on s di sc us se d be lo w, we rem an d to th e d i s t r i c t

co ur t fo r fu rth er p ro ceed in gs

.

W il li am Earl Mef

fo rd was co nv ic te d in Okl ah om a in 19 94 of se xu al ab us e of

a m in or

. On Nov em

be r 4, 20 09 , he was in di ct ed an d ch arg ed un de r th e Sex Offen de r Reg is tra ti on an d Not ifi cat io n Act (“ SORNA”), 42 U.S.C. § § 1 6 9 01 -1 69 91 , wit hfai li ng to reg is te r a s a s e x of fen de r aft er ha vi ng tra ve le d in in te rs ta te co m m erce , i n vi ol at io n of 18 U.S.C. § 22 50

. Mef fo rd m ov ed to di sm is s th e in di ct m en t on m ul ti pl e gr ou nd s, on e of whi ch was th at SORN A v i o l a t es th e no nd el eg at io n do ct rin e, se e A.L.A. Sc he ch te r Pou lt ry Co rp

. v. Uni te d St at es , 29 5 U.S. 49 5, 52 9 (1 93 5) , be cau se it au th or iz es th e Att or ne y Gen eral of th e Uni te d St at es to de te rm in e th e ap pl ic ab il it y of SORNA’s reg is tra ti on req ui reme nt s to pe rs on s co nv ic te d of a pr ed ic at e se xu al of fen se pr io r to SORNA’s en act m en t. Aft e r th e di st ric t co ur t de ni ed hi s m ot io n to di sm is s, Meffo rd en te red a gu il ty pl ea con di ti on ed on hi s rig ht to ap pe al th e de ni al , an d we affi rm ed

. App lying ou r th en -cu rren t pr eced en t, we he ld th at Mef fo rd la ck ed st an di ng fo r a no nd el eg at io n ch al le ng e be cau se SORNA ap pl ie d to pr e-en act m en t of fen de rs who al read y ha d be en req ui red to reg is te r un de r st at e la w, reg ard le ss of an y
ru le -m ak in g b y

th e Att or ne y

Gene ral

. Se e Mef

fo rd , 41 7 F . App ’x at 5 86 -8 7.

In Reyn ol ds , th e Su pr em e Co ur t he ld th at SORNA di d no t be co m e effe ct iv e as to pr e-en act m en t of

fen de rs un ti l th e Att or ne y Gen eral ex erc i s ed “ th e au th or it y to sp eci fy th e ap pl ic ab il it y of th e [r eg is tr at io n] re qu ir eme nt s
. . . to se x of

fen de rs
co nv i c te d be fo re th e en act m en t of th is ch ap te r

. . . .” 13 2 S. Ct . a t 97 8 (q uo ti ng 42 U.S.C. § 16 91 3( d) ) ( al te rat io ns an d em ph as is ad de d in Reyn ol ds ). The Co ur t

rem an de d to th e Thi rd Ci rcu it fo r co ns id erat io n of th e m eri ts of th e pe ti ti on er’s ch al le ng e to SORNA on no nd el eg at io n gro un ds

. Id

. at 98 0, 98 4. Und er Reyn ol ds , 1 Mef fo rd al so is en ti tl ed to ha ve hi s no nd el eg at io n ch al le ng e ad dr es se d on th e m eri ts

. Se e Uni te d St at es v. Fern an de z , --- F.3 d ---, 20 12 W L 61 24 57 , *1 (8 th Ci r. Feb

. 28 ,

The pe ti ti on er in Reyn ol ds al so ch al le ng ed on Adm in is tra ti ve Pro ced ur e Act 1
no ti ce - a n d

- co m

m en t gr ou nd s th e va li di ty of th e Att or ne y Gen eral ’s in te rim ru le of Feb ru ary 28 , 20 07 , in effe ct whe n th e pe tit ion er ’ s al le ge d SO RN A vio lati on oc cu rred

. Se e Reyn ol ds , 13 2 S. Ct

. at 97 9- 80

. Here, it is un di sp ut ed th at Mef fo rd fai le d to reg is te r in 20 09 , aft er th e Att o r n e y Gen eral ha d is su ed a fin al ru le ex erci si ng th e au th or it y to ap pl y SORNA’s req ui rem en ts to pr e-SOR NA of fen d ers

. Se e 73 Fed

. Reg

. 38 03 0, 38 04 6 (2 00 8)

. The refo re, u n l i k e t h e pe ti ti on er in Reyn ol ds , Mef fo rd
co ul d n ot (an d d id no t) a ss ert an y ch al le ng e to th e in te rim ru le

. -2

-20 12 ) (p er cu ria m ). Reyn ol ds do es no t affe ct Mef fo rd ’s Co m

m erce Cl au se an d Due Pro ces s cl ai m s, se e Fern an de z , 20 12 W L 61 24 57 at *2 , an d we rei ns ta te ou r pr ev io us op in io n a s t o t ho se two cla im s.

A c co rd in gl y , we rem an d to th e di st ric t co ur t fo r co ns id erat io n o f t h e
no nd el eg at io n cl ai m on th e m eri ts in th e fir st in st an ce, se e id

. at *1 , an d fo r ot he r pr oc eed in gs no t i nc on si st en t wi th th is op in io n.

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