1-11-2013 Washington DC:
The Supreme Court agreed on Friday to decide whether the government can require a former federal sex offender to register a change of address even after he had served his sentence and been unconditionally freed from custody.
In a brief order, the court agreed to hear the government's appeal of a July 2012 decision overturning the conviction of Air Force veteran Anthony Kebodeaux for violating the federal Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act of 2006.
SORNA provides what the U.S. Department of Justice calls a comprehensive set of minimum standards for sex offender registration and notification, and was designed to close potential gaps and loopholes.
While in the military, Kebodeaux at age 21 had consensual sex with a 15-year-old. He was sentenced in 1999 to three months in prison, which he served, and was no longer under federal control by the time SORNA was enacted.
In August 2007, he registered with authorities in El Paso, Texas, as a sex offender but never updated his registration after moving later that month to San Antonio. Kebodeaux was later apprehended, and sentenced to one year in prison after a bench trial.
But the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals threw out the conviction and found the registration requirement unconstitutional.
Congress, it said, was not entitled to assert "unending criminal authority" over Kebodeaux because of his earlier criminal sexual activity.
The Justice Department appealed, saying Congress acted within its power in subjecting Kebodeaux to the SORNA registration requirement. It also said voiding of an "important" act of Congress warranted the court's review.
A decision is expected by the end of June.
The case is U.S. v. Kebodeaux, U.S. Supreme Court, No. 12-418. ..Source.. by Jonathan Stempel
US v Myers
1 day ago
It is about time that consideration of common sense came to the national stage.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately this case turns on a narrow question. Kebodeaux is a federal sex offender (i.e. he committed his offense while in the military and it was adjudicated in a military court). He was living in Texas at the time of the failure to update his registration after moving within the state (so is guilty of violating Texas registration law). The question is whether he is also guilty of violating federal law (SORNA). SORNA is supposed to capture those sex offenders who try to escape registration by moving to another state, which Kebodeaux didn't do. A lower federal court vacated Kebodeaux's SORNA conviction, but stated the court’s “finding of unconstitutionality . . . does not affect the registration requirements for . . . any federal sex offender who was in prison or on supervised release when the statute was enacted in 2006 or . . . any federal sex offender convicted since then.” Neither does it affect any offender—state or federal—who crosses state lines and then fails to register. The government has appealed this decision to the Supreme Court. The question presented to the Supreme Court is therefore narrow and I would be very surprised if the Court has any stomach to widen it. So, even if Kebodeaux wins (and it appears he has a good shot at doing so), it will not help many people.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately this case turns on a narrow question. Kebodeaux is a federal sex offender (i.e. he committed his offense while in the military and it was adjudicated in a military court). He was living in Texas at the time of the failure to update his registration after moving within the state (so is guilty of violating Texas registration law). The question is whether he is also guilty of violating federal law (SORNA). SORNA is supposed to capture those sex offenders who try to escape registration by moving to another state, which Kebodeaux didn't do. A lower federal court vacated Kebodeaux's SORNA conviction, but stated the court’s “finding of unconstitutionality . . . does not affect the registration requirements for . . . any federal sex offender who was in prison or on supervised release when the statute was enacted in 2006 or . . . any federal sex offender convicted since then.” Neither does it affect any offender—state or federal—who crosses state lines and then fails to register. The government has appealed this decision to the Supreme Court. The question presented to the Supreme Court is therefore narrow and I would be very surprised if the Court has any stomach to widen it. So, even if Kebodeaux wins (and it appears he has a good shot at doing so), it will not help many people.
ReplyDeleteI know laws that apply to SOR needs to be changed, I believe, that once someone pay for their crime in prison they should be giving the opportunity to reinstate into society.
ReplyDelete