Opinion ID: 215845
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Sex Offender Registration and Enforcement Regime

Text: In 2006, based on its conclusion that existing sex-offender registration and reporting requirements were too readily circumvented, Congress enacted the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006 (Adam Walsh Act), Pub.L. No. 109-248, 120 Stat. 587 (codified in scattered sections of 8, 10, 18, 21, 28, and 42 U.S.C.). See United States v. Gould, 568 F.3d 459, 473-74 (4th Cir.2009) (discussing Congressional findings), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 130 S.Ct. 1686, 176 L.Ed.2d 186 (2010). The Act sought to protect the public from sex offenders and offenders against children by establishing a comprehensive national system for the registration of those offenders. 42 U.S.C. § 16901. Title I of the Adam Walsh Act is called the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA). SORNA was enacted to keep track of sex offenders. United States v. George, 625 F.3d 1124, 1129 (9th Cir.2010). Among other things, SORNA requires each state to maintain a jurisdiction-wide sex offender registry, 42 U.S.C. § 16912(a), and to provide a criminal penalty that includes a maximum term of imprisonment that is greater than 1 year for the failure of a sex offender to comply with the Act's registration requirements, id. § 16913(e). States are also required to publicize certain information about registered sex offenders, id. § 16918, and to share that information with federal and other state law enforcement authorities, id. § 16921. States failing to establish a registration and notification system in accordance with SORNA risk losing federal funding. See id. § 16925; see also United States v. Shenandoah, 595 F.3d 151, 155-56 (3d Cir.) (discussing various provisions of SORNA), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 130 S.Ct. 3433, 177 L.Ed.2d 341 (2010). All states have enacted registration regimes. See Carr v. United States, ___ U.S. ___, 130 S.Ct. 2229, 2239 n. 7, 176 L.Ed.2d 1152 (2010) (citing Smith v. Doe, 538 U.S. 84, 90, 123 S.Ct. 1140, 155 L.Ed.2d 164 (2003)). In addition to requiring states to establish registration regimes, SORNA imposes a separate federal registration requirement. It provides: 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). SORNA defines sex offender as an individual who was convicted of a sex offense. Id. § 16911(1). The Act lists certain categories of criminal convictions that qualify as sex offenses, and makes clear that the registration requirement is applicable to all sex offenders, whether their convictions are based on federal or state law. See id. § 16911(5)-(6). In addition to the requirement that states enact criminal penalties for the failure to register, SORNA contains its own criminal provision, 18 U.S.C. § 2250(a), which provides that an individual who fails to register under § 16913 is guilty of an independent federal offense. Unlike § 16913, which applies to all sex offenders regardless of whether their convictions arise under federal or state law, § 2250(a) criminalizes the failure to register for only two classes of sex offenders. It provides: (a) In General.Whoever (1) is required to register under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act; (2)(A) is a sex offender as defined for the purposes of the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act by reason of a conviction under Federal law (including the Uniform Code of Military Justice), the law of the District of Columbia, Indian tribal law, or the law of any territory or possession of the United States; or (B) travels in interstate or foreign commerce, or enters or leaves, or resides in, Indian country; and (3) knowingly fails to register or update a registration as required by the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act; shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 10 years, or both. 18 U.S.C. § 2250(a). Thus, § 2250(a) imposes criminal liability on two categories of persons who fail to adhere to SORNA's registration requirements: any person who is a sex offender `by reason of a conviction under Federal law ...,' § 2250(a)(2)(A), and any other person required to register under SORNA who `travels in interstate or foreign commerce...,' § 2250(a)(2)(B). Carr, 130 S.Ct. at 2238. The only sex offenders not subject to § 2250(a) are those with state convictions who never leave the state in which they were convicted. See id.; accord United States v. Guzman, 591 F.3d 83, 90 (2d Cir.) (noting that a sex offender whose underlying conviction was obtained pursuant to state law and who never crosses state lines ... cannot be criminally liable for failure to comply with SORNA), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 130 S.Ct. 3487, 177 L.Ed.2d 1080 (2010).