Opinion ID: 78508
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Applicability of SORNA to Brown

Text: Enacted in July 2006, SORNA created a comprehensive national system for registering sex offenders in order to track their interstate movement. See United States v. Ambert, 561 F.3d 1202, 1205 (11th Cir. 2009). SORNA provides in pertinent part as follows: A sex offender shall register, and keep the registration current, in each jurisdiction where the offender resides, where the offender is an employee, and where the offender is a student. For initial registration purposes only, a sex offender shall also register in the jurisdiction in which convicted if such jurisdiction is different from the jurisdiction of residence. 42 U.S.C. § 16913(a) (2009). In order to keep one's registration current, a sex offender must update his registry information in at least one jurisdiction involved in subsection (a) within three business days after changing residence, employment, name, or student status. Id. § 16913(c). If a convicted sex offender travels in interstate or foreign commerce and knowingly fails to register as required by SORNA, he has violated the Act and may be punished by fines and/or imprisonment for up to ten years. 18 U.S.C. § 2250(a) (2009). It is an affirmative defense if (1) uncontrollable circumstances prevented the individual from complying; (2) the individual did not contribute to the creation of such circumstances in reckless disregard of the requirement to comply; and (3) the individual complied as soon as such circumstances ceased to exist. Id. § 2250(b). SORNA authorized the Attorney General to determine SORNA's applicability for sex offenders convicted before July 27, 2006 or its implementation in a particular jurisdiction. 42 U.S.C. § 16913(d). On 28 February 2007, the Attorney General exercised that authority by enacting 28 C.F.R. § 72.3, which expressly applied SORNA registration requirements `to all sex offenders, including sex offenders convicted of the offense for which registration is required prior to the enactment of that ACT.' Ambert, 561 F.3d at 1206 (quoting 28 C.F.R. § 72.3) (emphasis added). The Attorney General's interim regulations made it clear that SORNA retroactively applies to sex offenders, like Brown, who were convicted before SORNA's enactment. See United States v. Madera, 528 F.3d 852, 857 (11th Cir.2008) (per curiam). Nevertheless, Brown argues that SORNA does not apply to him because Alabama has not implemented it. He points to a provision in the final regulations (National Guidelines) which authorizes jurisdictions to phase in SORNA registration for sex offenders with pre-SORNA or pre-SORNA-implementation convictions. The portion quoted by Brown states: In other words, sex offenders in these existing sex offender populations who cannot be registered within the normal SORNA time frame (i.e., before release from imprisonment or within three business days of sentencing for the registration offense) must be registered by the jurisdiction when it implements the SORNA requirements in its system within a year for sex offenders who satisfy the tier I criteria, within six months for sex offenders who satisfy the tier II criteria, and within three months for sex offenders who satisfy the tier III criteria. 73 Fed.Reg. 38030, 38063-64 (2008). Based on this provision, Brown reasons that sex offenders with pre-SORNA convictions, like himself, have a duty to register only after the jurisdiction implements SORNA. Brown's argument fails to appreciate the distinction between a jurisdiction's duty to implement SORNA and a sex offender's duty to register. See United States v. Gould, 568 F.3d 459, 464 (4th Cir.2009), petition for cert. filed, (U.S. Sept. 25, 2009) (No. 09-6742) ([T]he structure of SORNA's requirements indicates a separateness of the sex offenders' individual duty to register and the State's duty to enhance its registries and standards as mandated by the Act.). SORNA granted jurisdictions until 27 July 2009 (a deadline which the Attorney General may extend) to implement its requirements. 42 U.S.C. § 16924 (2009). If a state fails to substantially and timely implement SORNA, the state's federal funding tied to the statute is reduced by ten percent. Id. § 16925(a) (2009). The Attorney General's interim regulations specified, however, that [i]n contrast to SORNA's provision of a three-year grace period for jurisdictions to implement its requirements, SORNA's direct federal law registration requirements for sex offenders are not subject to any deferral of effectiveness. 72 Fed.Reg. 8894, 8895 (2007). The final regulations in the National Guidelines likewise provide that SORNA applies to sex offenders regardless of whether the relevant jurisdiction has incorporated SORNA's requirements. See 73 Fed.Reg. at 38063. In fact, the provision quoted by Brown is lifted from a section of the National Guidelines entitled Retroactive Classes, which begins with the following sentence: As discussed in Part II.C of these Guidelines, SORNA applies to all sex offenders, including those convicted of their registration offenses prior to the enactment of SORNA or prior to particular jurisdictions' incorporation of the SORNA requirements into their programs.  Id. (emphasis added). Although we have not addressed Brown's particular argument, several of our sister circuits have rejected similar claims. See Gould, 568 F.3d at 463-66 (SORNA applies to defendant even though Maryland had not yet implemented it); United States v. Dixon, 551 F.3d 578, 582 (7th Cir.2008), cert. granted, Carr v. United States, 2009 WL 1095868 (U.S. Sept. 30, 2009) (No. 08-1301) (defendant required by SORNA to register with Indiana despite Indiana's failure to establish any procedures or protocols for the collection, maintenance, and dissemination of the detailed information required by the Act); United States v. Hinckley, 550 F.3d 926, 939 (10th Cir.2008), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 129 S.Ct. 2383, 173 L.Ed.2d 1301 (2009) (defendant required to register under SORNA even though Oklahoma had not statutorily implemented SORNA). As these cases point out, SORNA was not enacted in a vacuum. To the contrary, every state and the District of Columbia had a sex offender registration law prior to 2006. See Gould, 568 F.3d at 464. An individual may therefore comply with SORNA's registration requirements by registering through the state's sex offender registry, even if that jurisdiction has not implemented SORNA's administrative procedures. See id.; Dixon, 551 F.3d at 582; Hinckley, 550 F.3d at 939. Accordingly, a jurisdiction's failure to implement SORNA results in a loss of federal funds, not in an excuse for an offender who has failed to register. Hinckley, 550 F.3d at 939. We agree with our sister circuits that a sex offender is not exempt from SORNA's registration requirements merely because the jurisdiction in which he is required to register has not yet implemented SORNA. Here, it is undisputed that Alabama maintained a sex offender registry during the relevant time period which required sex offenders to register and provide updated information upon changing residences. See Ala.Code §§ 13A-11-200, 15-20-23 (2009). Brown thus could have registered as a sex offender through Alabama's sex offender program. Accordingly, we conclude that SORNA applied to Brown.