Opinion ID: 1303620
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Retroactive Application of SORNA to Utesch

Text: The federal courts of appeal are divided over whether SORNA by its own terms applies to sex offenders who were convicted prior to SORNA's enactment. The Eighth and Tenth Circuits have held that it does, reading § 16913(d) as conferring on the Attorney General only the limited power of providing a method for previously convicted offenders to comply with SORNA's registration requirements despite the fact that their states may not have required them to register at all or as promptly as SORNA requires. See United States v. May, 535 F.3d 912, 916-19 (8th Cir.2008); United States v. Hinckley, 550 F.3d 926, 932-35 (10th Cir.2008); United States v. Lawrance, 548 F.3d 1329, 1336 (10th Cir.2008). The Fourth, Fifth, Seventh, Ninth, and Eleventh Circuits have held that § 16913(d) gives the Attorney General the additional, broader authority to make SORNA retroactive in the first place, meaning that the Act itself only applies going forward until the Attorney General prescribes otherwise. See United States v. Hatcher, 560 F.3d 222, 228-29 (4th Cir.2009); United States v. Young, 585 F.3d 199, 201 (5th Cir.2009); United States v. Dixon, 551 F.3d 578, 581-82 (7th Cir.2008), cert. granted sub nom. Carr v. United States, ___ U.S. ___, 130 S.Ct. 47, 48, 174 L.Ed.2d 631 (mem.) [3] ; United States v. Juvenile Male, 590 F.3d 924, 929 (9th Cir.2010); United States v. Madera, 528 F.3d 852, 858 (11th Cir.2008). [4] The government urges us to adopt the former view, under which Utesch would lack standing to challenge the validity of any retroactivity regulation issued by the Attorney General, as such a regulation would not be the basis of the application of SORNA's requirements to him. See, e.g., United States v. Hacker, 565 F.3d 522, 528 (8th Cir.2009). Following the completion of briefing in this case, however, another panel of this court rejected the position advocated by the government. In United States v. Cain, 583 F.3d 408 (6th Cir.2009), the panel held that SORNA was not retroactive as of the date of its enactment and that § 16913(d) vested the retroactivity decision with the Attorney General. Id. at 419. It explained that Congress required immediate registration of all sex offenders convicted after SORNA, required the Attorney General to make rules for any offenders somehow not able to register with their jurisdiction despite SORNA's implementation, and allowed the Attorney General to determine to what degree SORNA's requirements should apply to offenders convicted before SORNA as well as what registration rules should apply to them. Id. at 416. The issue, then, is whether there exists any valid regulation promulgated by the Attorney General pursuant to § 16913(d) that subjected Utesch to SORNA during the period covered by his indictment. There are three candidates: (1) the February 28, 2007 interim regulation, (2) the preliminary SMART guidelines issued on May 30, 2007, and (3) the final SMART guidelines issued on July 2, 2008. The parties focus on the February 28, 2007 interim regulation. While that regulation stated that comments would be accepted until April 30, 2007, it became effective upon issuance. 72 Fed. Reg. at 8895. Utesch argues that the interim regulation cannot support his conviction because it was not promulgated pursuant to the APA's notice-and-comment and thirty-day waiting-period requirements. With certain exceptions not relevant here, [5] the notice-and-comment procedure requires the following: (b) General notice of proposed rule making shall be published in the Federal Register, unless persons subject thereto are named and either personally served or otherwise have actual notice thereof in accordance with law. The notice shall include (1) a statement of the time, place, and nature of public rule making proceedings; (2) reference to the legal authority under which the rule is proposed; and (3) either the terms or substance of the proposed rule or a description of the subjects and issues involved. ... (c) After notice required by this section, the agency shall give interested persons an opportunity to participate in the rule making through submission of written data, views, or arguments with or without opportunity for oral presentation. After consideration of the relevant matter presented, the agency shall incorporate in the rules adopted a concise general statement of their basis and purpose.... 5 U.S.C. § 553. The purpose of this procedure is to get public input so as to get the wisest rules, to ensure fair treatment for persons to be affected by regulations, and to ensure that affected parties have an opportunity to participate in and influence agency decision making at an early stage. Dismas Charities, Inc. v. U.S. Dep't of Justice, 401 F.3d 666, 678, 680 (6th Cir.2005) (internal quotation marks omitted). It may be forgone when the agency for good cause finds ... that notice and public procedure thereon are impracticable, unnecessary, or contrary to the public interest. § 553(b)(B). The publication requirement provides that an agency must publish the final version of a regulation for at least thirty days before the regulation becomes effective. § 553(d). The purpose is to give[] persons affected by the change in the law time to prepare to comply with the new rule. Cain, 583 F.3d at 423. This provision likewise may be bypassed for good cause found and published with the rule. § 553(d)(3). In issuing the interim regulation, the Attorney General certified that immediate effectiveness was necessary to eliminate uncertainty about the Act's coverage and to ensure protection of the public without delay. 72 Fed. Reg. at 8896-97. In Cain, the panel held that the Attorney General's reasons did not amount to the good cause required to bypass the APA's procedural requirements under 5 U.S.C. § 553(b)(B), (d)(3). 583 F.3d at 420-24. [6] The panel explained that a desire to provide guidance to regulated parties is not sufficient to show good cause to bypass the notice and comment provisions, and noted that some period of uncertainty was unavoidable given Congress's decision to delegate the retroactivity decision and to decline to bypass the APA's requirements. Id. at 421. In this way, the panel reasoned further, Congress had thus already balanced the costs and benefits of an immediately effective rule compared to the delayed implementation of a reasoned regulation. Id. The Cain panel found the Attorney General's certification inadequate to dispose of the thirty-day advance publication requirement for the same reasons and added that the Attorney General's statement of reasons is particularly inadequate for a regulation that increases criminal penalties. Id. at 423. On those grounds, the panel held that SORNA did not apply to the defendant in that case, who had originally been convicted of a sex offense in 1998 and whose indictment charged him with failure to update his registration from October 16, 2006 through March 28, 2007. Id. at 424; see also United States v. Doshak, No. 08-3141, ___ Fed. Appx. ___, ___ - ___, 2009 WL 5125516, at -2 (6th Cir. Dec.29, 2009) (unpublished opinion) (applying Cain to vacate the conviction of a defendant indicted for violation of SORNA's registration requirements on or about October 26, 2006, through on or about March 20, 2007). [7] On the basis of Cain, it appears that the interim regulation cannot support retroactivity in the instant case. We consider the possibility, however, that while the interim rule did not apply SORNA to the defendant in Cain, it may have applied the Act to Utesch. In Cain, the defendant was indicted on March 28, 2007, prior to the comments deadline of April 30, 2007 and less than thirty days after publication. The Cain court specifically took no position on the validity of an indictment charging a defendant after the close of the comment period and more than thirty days after publication of the rulethat is, a defendant in Utesch's position. 583 F.3d at 423 n. 6, 424 n. 7. We now hold that a defendant in Utesch's position is not bound by the interim rule. While the thirty-day advance publication requirement is met here, such that Utesch had time to comply with the rule, see Rowell v. Andrus, 631 F.2d 699, 704 (10th Cir.1980) (holding that a regulation made effective less than thirty days after publication, in violation of 5 U.S.C. § 553(d), may be held valid after the passage of thirty days), we have no indication that the notice-and-comment process was actually carried out. Under standard APA procedure, an agency issues a proposed rule, requests comments, reviews those comments, and then publishes a final rule. As the D.C. Circuit has explained, notice and an opportunity for comment are to precede rule-making; the APA requires that affected parties have an opportunity to participate in and influence agency decision making at an early stage, when the agency is more likely to give real consideration to alternative ideas. N.J. Dep't of Envtl. Prot. v. EPA, 626 F.2d 1038, 1049-50 (D.C.Cir.1980) (internal quotation marks omitted). In this case, the Attorney Generalthe agencysolicited comments, but the interim rule became effective immediately, before receipt and review of any public feedback. There was never any follow-up publication corresponding to the interim regulation that evidenced actual consideration of public commentary. Therefore, we conclude that the interim rule did not make SORNA effective against Utesch or any other defendants convicted before SORNA's enactment. We turn next to the comprehensive SMART guidelines, which were promulgated according to notice and comment procedures. The preliminary guidelines, which included a provision making SORNA retroactive, see 72 Fed. Reg. at 30,212, were published on May 30, 2007 and stated that comments would be accepted until August 1, 2007. Id. at 30,210. The Attorney General then issued the final SMART guidelines on July 2, 2008, responding to the comments received and maintaining that SORNA would be applied retroactively. 73 Fed. Reg. 38,030; 38,031; 38,035-36; 38,046-47. While this process is precisely what the APA requires, it was not complete by the time of Utesch's indictment on November 13, 2007. The comments period had closed, but the Attorney General had not yet issued the final rule in response to the commentary. See 5 U.S.C. § 553(c) (providing that the agency shall incorporate a statement of purpose into the rules [a]fter consideration of the relevant matter presented); PPG Indus., Inc. v. Costle, 630 F.2d 462, 466 (6th Cir.1980) (reading the APA as requiring agencies to give reasoned responses to all significant comments in a rulemaking proceeding). The preliminary guidelines were published before Utesch's indictment, but these were only [p]roposed guidelines, 72 Fed. Reg. at 30,210, and did not carry the force of law. See United States v. Springer, 354 F.3d 772, 776 (8th Cir.2004) ([I]t is well settled that proposed regulations ... have no legal effect.) (internal quotation marks omitted); Ctr. for Auto Safety v. Nat'l Highway Traffic Safety Admin., 710 F.2d 842, 846 (D.C.Cir.1983) (noting that the issuance of a notice of proposed rulemaking... often will not be ripe for review because the rule may or may not be adopted or enforced); cf. Commodity Futures Trading Comm'n v. Schor, 478 U.S. 833, 845, 106 S.Ct. 3245, 92 L.Ed.2d 675 (1986) (It goes without saying that a proposed regulation does not represent an agency's considered interpretation of its statute and that an agency is entitled to consider alternative interpretations before settling on the view it considers most sound.). To hold otherwise would be contrary to the APA's thirty-day advance publication requirement. See Rowell, 631 F.2d at 702-03 & n. 2 (holding that the thirty-day period relates to the final rule, not the proposed rule, because until publication is made of the rule actually adopted, the public of course does not know which course the agency will take or how to prepare for the regulation). At the time of Utesch's indictment, then, there was no properly promulgated regulation in place applying SORNA to him retroactively. SORNA became effective against offenders convicted before its enactment thirty days after the final SMART guidelines were published: that is, on August 1, 2008. [8] Utesch's failure to register and his interstate travel in this case took place well before that date. [9] Accordingly, the indictment should have been dismissed. See 5 U.S.C. § 706(2)(D) (The reviewing court shall hold unlawful and set aside agency action, findings, and conclusions found to be without observance of procedure required by law.). At oral argument, the government raised one final argument that might salvage Utesch's conviction. Citing Playter v. Federal Aviation Administration, No. 90-3420, 1991 WL 80311 (6th Cir. May 16, 1991) (unpublished opinion), government counsel suggested that the conviction could be upheld on the ground that the APA violations were harmless in light of the proper promulgation of the SMART guidelines, which reaffirmed the interim regulation's retroactivity provision. Playter concerned a pilot's challenge to the FAA's assessment of a civil penalty against him for flying too low in violation of aviation regulations. Id. at . In March 1990, the Administrator of the FAA denied relief on the basis of the pilot's failure timely to file an answer to the civil penalty order, as required by the applicable agency regulations. Id. at . Less than one month after the Administrator's decision, the D.C. Circuit invalidated the FAA regulations at issue in Playter because they had not been promulgated according to the APA's notice-and-comment procedure. Air Transp. Ass'n v. Dep't of Transp., 900 F.2d 369, 380 (D.C.Cir.1990). In July 1990, the FAA repromulgated the rules in compliance with the APA. The Playter court held that any request that the rules be held invalid would be moot in light of the repromulgation. 1991 WL 80311, at . The APA requires us to take due account... of the rule of prejudicial error before holding any agency action unlawful and issuing relief. 5 U.S.C. § 706. For three reasons, however, Playter does not require that we uphold Utesch's conviction based on harmless error. First, Playter is an unpublished, per-curiam opinion that is not binding precedent. See Bell v. Johnson, 308 F.3d 594, 611 (6th Cir.2002). Second, the Playter court based its decision in part on its uncertainty that the original rulemaking violated the APA. The Supreme Court vacated Air Transport Association, which dealt with a pre-enforcement challenge to immediately effective regulations, and remanded for consideration of mootness after the FAA promulgated new rules and after the parties agreed that the petitioner no longer had an interest in challenging the regulations. Dep't of Transp. v. Air Transp. Ass'n, 498 U.S. 1077, 1077, 111 S.Ct. 944, 112 L.Ed.2d 1033 (1991); Air Transp. Ass'n v. Dep't of Transp., 933 F.2d 1043, 1043 (D.C.Cir. 1991) (Silberman, J., concurring) (on remand, explaining how the case had become moot). In Playter, then, the court noted that there is now an absence of authority for petitioner's contention that the Penalty Rules applied in his case were invalid. 1991 WL 80311, at . The court also emphasized that the procedural rules ... may not have been promulgated in accordance with appropriate APA procedures. Id. Finally, the rule of harmless error cannot justifiably be applied on the facts of the instant case. As the Ninth Circuit has pointed out, a reviewing court must focus not merely on the ultimate rule but on the process of an administrative rulemaking; otherwise, an agency could always violate the APA's procedural requirements based on the representation that it would have adopted the same rule had the proper process been followed. Riverbend Farms, Inc. v. Madigan, 958 F.2d 1479, 1487 (9th Cir.1992). Courts have generally applied the harmless-error rule in the agency context when the procedural deficiencies did not defeat the purpose of the bypassed requirements. See, e.g., Shelton v. Marsh, 902 F.2d 1201, 1206-07 (6th Cir.1990) (holding that failure to provide notice was harmless when interested parties had actual notice); Riverbend Farms, 958 F.2d at 1487-88 (holding that all parties before us knew the ground rules for public comment); Conservation Law Found. v. Evans, 360 F.3d 21, 29-30 (1st Cir.2004) (holding the failure to provide a fifteen-day comment period harmless when the rulemaking process included several opportunities for public participation). Here, the process was fatally flawed; the Attorney General provided affected parties no opportunity to participate in the crafting of the interim rule before it purported to take effect against them. The publication of the final SMART guidelines does not alter the analysis. The fact that the Attorney General eventually made SORNA retroactive through legitimate means cannot sustain prosecution of an individual based on conduct committed long before the final guidelines' enactment, and to the extent that Playter suggests otherwise, we disavow it. [10] Indeed, it is the very essence of the constitutional protection against ex-post-facto laws that a defendant like Utesch, who was charged with a criminal violation, cannot be punished for conduct occurring before the criminal regulation of that conduct. See U.S. Const. art. I, § 9, cl. 3; Weaver v. Graham, 450 U.S. 24, 31, 101 S.Ct. 960, 67 L.Ed.2d 17 (1981) (The critical question is whether the law changes the legal consequences of acts completed before its effective date.); Kellogg v. Shoemaker, 46 F.3d 503, 509-10 (6th Cir. 1995) (holding that parole-revocation regulations violated the Ex Post Facto Clause for prisoners who committed their offenses before the date of enactment). [11] For these reasons, the interim regulation's procedural deficiencies were not harmless. As the final SMART guidelines had not become effective by the time of Utesch's indictment, the district court's order must be reversed.