United States Second Circuit

In the government's appeal from a dismissal of defendants' indictments for failing to register as sex offenders under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA), dismissal of the indictments is reversed where: 1) SORNA's registration requirement did not violate the Commerce Clause because requiring sex offenders to update their registrations due to intrastate changes of address or employment status was a perfectly logical way to help ensure that states would more effectively be able to track sex offenders when they crossed state lines; and 2) SORNA did not violate the non-delegation doctrine by delegating legislative authority to the Attorney General.

Appellate Information

• Decided 01/07/2010
• Published 01/07/2010

Judges

• WESLEY, Circuit Judge:, Before MINER, STRAUB, and WESLEY, Circuit Judges.

Court

• United States Second Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellant:
  
• Brenda K. Sannes, Assistant United States Attorney, for Andrew T. Baxter, Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of New York, Syracuse, N.Y. (Lisa M. Fletcher, Assistant United States Attorney, of counsel), for Appellant United States of America.


• For Appellees:
  
• James P. Egan, Assistant Federal Public Defender, for Alexander Bunin, Federal Public Defender for the Northern District of New York, Syracuse, NY, (Lisa A. Peebles, First Assistant Federal Public Defender, Melissa A. Tuohey, Assistant Federal Public Defender, of counsel), for Defendants-Appellees Jesus Manuel Guzman and David Hall.