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.
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.
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
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.