The Pacific Legal Foundation (PLF): Lawsuit Filed Challenging SORNA Regulations
Nearly 20 years ago, Congress passed a law requiring people convicted of certain sex offenses to register with their states. But Congress also left it entirely up to the U.S. Department of Justice, a part of the executive branch, to write the rules governing who must register, how often, what information they must provide, and when they have broken the law. But the DOJ’s job is also to criminally prosecute people who fail to follow the same rules the agency has written. It is unconstitutional for the nation’s chief prosecutor to both write the law and enforce it.
John Doe* enlisted in the Marines at 17 and was honorably discharged eight years later. When he was a 23-year-old service member in 1996, he had a sexual encounter with a 16-year-old girl that, while not sexual intercourse, broke California law against sexual activity with someone under the age of 18. He pled guilty to a misdemeanor and was sentenced to three years’ probation. He was also required to register as a sex offender with the State of California.
Otherwise, John was living on the straight and narrow. He married and had two children. He worked hard, becoming a successful businessman and an active member of his church and community.
By 2012, the State of California had recognized John’s rehabilitation by completely expunging his record and issuing a “Certificate of Rehabilitation.” Under California law, he no longer has a criminal record and isn’t required to register as a sex offender.
But in December 2021, the U.S. Attorney General issued a new rule governing sex offender registration that would require John to re-register as a sex offender—even though, as far as California is concerned, he no longer has any record at all. In fact, California won’t allow John to register, yet the new rule still presumes he’s guilty of a federal crime for failing to do so.
The Attorney General shouldn’t be able to unilaterally impose a rule that places tremendous burdens on people like John. By re-registering, John would have to provide the state with personal information, including all internet usernames, robbing him of the ability to protest the government’s action anonymously. He’d also be forced to stop going to his children’s schools and might even have to move. Perhaps even worse, because he can’t register as the federal government has demanded, he faces the prospect of criminal prosecution at any time.
When Congress passed the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA) in 2006, it gave the Attorney General unrestrained authority to create new registration requirements. The Attorney General is exercising that authority without input or direction from Congress. This is a clear violation of the principle of “non-delegation,” the idea that Congress cannot delegate its lawmaking power to the executive branch.
Now the Attorney General has used this power to put John Doe in a Catch-22: forcing him to register as a sex offender, for which he has no mechanism to register in California, and for a crime that the state has expunged from his record.
Represented by PLF free of charge and joined by the Alliance for Constitutional Sex Offense Laws (ACSOL), John is challenging Congress’ unconstitutional delegation of authority to the Attorney General to issue SORNA requirements—a clear violation of the non-delegation doctrine and separation of powers.
In 2019, the Supreme Court declined to reinvigorate the non-delegation doctrine in a case called Gundy v. United States. However, the Court avoided ruling on the constitutional issue, while several Justices mentioned in dissent that SORNA is ripe for a constitutional challenge. This case could present them with an opportunity to revisit that decision.
*Our client is using the pseudonym John Doe to protect the life and reputation he has built in the decade-plus since his record was fully expunged.
It is so INSANE that the federal government can mandate that you be registered by a state that refuses to register you. The federales are saying ‘It’s your fault and problem that the state won’t register you!”. If they are going to make their own rules, they need to provide their own registration system.
TO: RAY O
Be careful what you wish for. God forbid we all have to start also going in person to register at a Federal level. Many of us live 100s of miles from the nearest Federal office which is mostly in major cities.
During covid when many Sheriff’s offices were doing online registrations, I was scared to death they were going to claim someone failed to register because some of the departments were not giving receipts of proof of registration like they do/did when doing in person.
Cherokee, you’re passed the 25 year registration requirement for the feds, right? Or very soon? You should only have to deal with Florida’s laws, right? Re: no receipt for registration, I had my phone out ready to video-record my visit as evidence. Fortunately, I got a receipt.
This reminds me of a saying my dear, sweet, departed Granny use to say. “The right hand has no idea what the left hand is doing.”
Years later I figured out what that was supposed to mean. Our body is one and is supposed to work in unity. But when you have a tumor, your brain doesn’t send the right signals to the hand to tell it to pick something up, instead it just hangs there uselessly.
This perfectly describes the circus the registry has become. Judges, lawmakers, law enforcement, attorneys all have different understanding of the sex offender laws, rules and violation policies and procedures.
Is it sickness, madness or a bit of both?
Has John Doe been charged with a crime by the US Dept of Justice?
Those that have studied the debacle and failed leadership in Criminal Justice can well see the wrecked lives and injustices of the registry and the poor management of those who have completed their punishment and treatment. Whereas NARSOL and others are putting all their eggs into the judicial basket to bring change, that change is slow and divided into 50 different jurisdictions and people, one meniscal change at a time – 1 step forward and 2 steps back.
Expanding The Power Base. I see the ACLU, HSW, Women against Registry, SOPRI, FL Action Committee as powerful interest groups. My experience is that change begins with a consortium of special interest organizations populated with voters and citizens who network and combine their power. Pressure is put on Congress and government leaders to sponsor interagency working groups and committees. Why is there no effort to pool resources, present a united effort, work together to bring about change?
Change Agent Approach. I see 3 main groups that all need addressing simultaneously and more aggressively – the public, media, and lawmakers. Why is there not a coordinated effort to address these elements?
National Strategy. Addressing legislators, the media, and the public, and coordinating other registry action groups by a network of organizations would necessitate a strategy. I doubt we would eliminate the registry, but this group might identify what they can change in goals and gather an army to do so. Why has there been no effort to prepare a national strategy and then enlist other advocacy and nonprofit groups that would go beyond the courts and work the whole issue?
4 Federalize Registry through SMART. Why not work to federalize the registry and rules under SMART and create reasonable standards, reduce the categories on the registry, update sentencing, standardize under SMART the one registry that already exists under Pam Lychner Sexual Offender Tracking and Identification Act, which would greatly simplify movement between states. Reduce those managed on the registry to those guilty of crimes of violence. Reduce several categories from felony to misdemeanor. Change the punishment for administrative register failures when no intent is present, to a minor or even a citation offense.
5 Rescind Bad Laws. Work with Congress to change bad laws. Rescind portions of Megan’s Law, such that it may only apply to release of information on violent sex offenders, change the definition of violent, do not release registry information beyond LE records. By reducing the categories of crimes on the registry, the size of the effort becomes manageable on a single SMART system. Perhaps rescind portions of the Adam Walsh Act leaving Tier 3 restrictions in place. Rescind the International Megan’s Law as it pertains to Tier 1 and 2, and impose restrictions and international notifications only on those crimes originally intended for supervision as international trafficking.
“They” (people in general) need to understand that “we” (persons forced to register) are not going away. And they need to understand that we will continue to file lawsuit after lawsuit.
They need to understand that we will speak up loudly for our rights under federal, state and international law!
They need to stop the oppression.
To: JJJJ
Not really sure why they are afraid to give us a 2nd chance at getting off the registry? I mean many of us have felony charges that stay on your record forever. And if you are a felon, that at least is consistent in the law. Ex-Felons, current or former felons (cannot own a gun) have certain jobs or licenses, certain places you cannot go or be etc.
And yet they go beyond that with sex offense registries that are in most cases for life with little or no chance to ever be free from them. A post on here once asked for a list of all the restrictions and bans that are placed on us and there were so many that pages and pages were filled up on the posts.
Out of the 100s of restrictions we have on us, many that can land us back in prison, the courts have ruled that ZERO of them are punitive? But, any single one of them has the potential to send us back to prison. My understanding of the law is, if something is illegal and the consequence of breaking that law, rule etc, is being arrested, HOW is that not punitive?
Do judges have a special pair of dark glasses they wear when reading our claims that change all of our claims into unicorns and rainbows? I think what it really comes down to, is they are afraid of being shunned by their peers. Your honors, you ALL took an oath when you were sworn in, please obey those oaths and laws you were sworn to protect and at least act like you know what you are doing.
You can bet the first filling will be Joe Doe has no standing in this case. That seems to be the first thing they file in all of them.
If I hadn’t spent most of my career calling on the Federal government, I would find this information shocking and surprising. Sadly, I don’t.
This is getting so out of hand. Even so that the police in my area have let my neighbors do as they wish, which in turn has flowed over into everywhere where I go. Stalked, threatened, house broken into, wifi security system hacked and used as a tool by my neighbors to protect themselves against any legal troubles. The police shrug it off. The only people they are protecting with this scam, is the real criminals.
To: Me
I have been dealing with that since 1997. House broken into, vehicles keyed, poop thrown at house, tires slashed, 3 times had bullets come through windows, Plants in garden destroyed, paint thrown on house windows, items stolen from property, trash thrown on my property, my trash gone through to see if they could find anything to frame me with. In every case, even the shots fired at house, they always tell me to “file a report online” and I never get a follow up.
People were getting bored looking at the registry every day until nextdoor came out and now it is getting even worse with people ganging up on us. I tell them all, “it is a free country and you are FREE to move because we are not going anywhere”. I have also told them, if you keep harassing me, we will rent out our spare bedroom to 2 other people on the registry.
Just so everyone understands, the police will clone your phone’s and use whatever you have on your phones to track you, copy your texts emails, listen on your calls and even use your wifi to delete security footage from your cameras that would prove wrong doing on their behalf or others when trying to get you put of your home. Of they cannot push you out, they wi go every route they can to chase you from your job and scare you from going anywhere. They will follow you everywhere you go and stalk you into such fear and intimidation, why, because they can! They have tried to chase me from my home for years on bull that my neighbors have said because they want my house. Forced fear and scare tactics, not just locally but everywhere you go. How is that fair and or legal? Abuse of power?
Bro I feel your pain. My registration officially started when I finished my WI sentences in 2010 for convictions in 1988. I’m a lifer because of repeat offending even though offences were not that serious..false imprisonment and sex assault of adult. Anywho I’ve actually had three serious attempt on my life had vehicles birned and stolen. In addition I was indicted by a grand jury for ftr on made up case that claimed I was guilty because on one piece of paper my address daid drive instead of place. Never mind my ids were accurate and everything officially proper. Eventual dismissal by prosecutors motiipm. That should never happen. So I get it. Policies are so bad that i sre the police as my enemy even when I’m clearly a victim because the second they arrive the entire focus shifts to what I did or didn’t fo or am i registration up to date. Man even my immediate family has abandoned me because they can’t accept the insanity I share. Their brains just can’t handle the stress and chaos and anxiety. They instead pretend it’s not really the way I describe. Imagine that everything is A ok. In my world as soon as people are made aware pf my history bad results and improbable events happen. Like constantly being vandalized and gun fire oit in front of my place..happen all the time and I ain’t playing. It’s bad and I have to leave. Anybody who can give me some love I appreciate it. J
Im sorry to hear about how much shit you gotta go through cj. My life is about the same except you write a lot better than me. But seriously, I dealt with all that until I became homeless, sleep in my car and nobody knows where I am and I don’t get messed with no more, except police contacts every day.
John Schultz
BUT……………None of us can complain because the courts have ruled it is NOT punishment. Even if you become homeless. All part of Normal everyday life????????????????
Someone please tell me the definition of insanity again and then cross reference that with those who claim we are not being punished, every-single-day of our lives.
I am so sorry you are going through that brother. I complain that a cop comes to my house twice a year. And here you are getting harassed ever 24 hours? That is more checkups than I got on probation. Sad beyond comprehension.