UPDATE:
Read a summary of the SORNA meeting
Listen to the recording of the meeting
The federal government today published final SORNA regulations in the Federal Register. According to this publication, the regulations will become effective on January 7, 2022.
“The only thing that can stop these regulations is a formal objection by Congress during the next 30 days which is unlikely to happen,” stated ACSOL Executive Director Janice Bellucci. “Therefore we must prepare to challenge the regulations through litigation filed in federal courts.”
Despite acknowledging that more than 700 comments were received regarding the proposed SORNA regulations issued in August 2020, today’s publication states that the federal government has decided to adopt virtually all of the proposed regulations. The only difference between the proposed and final regulations is a small change regarding the circumstances in which SORNA violations may result in federal criminal liability.
According to today’s publication, the final regulations “will make it easier for sex offenders to determine what they are required to do and thus facilitate compliance.” The publication does not, however, clarify vague language in the regulations including, but not limited to, which tier levels — federal or state — will apply for registration requirements and other purposes.
In today’s publication, the federal government has asserted that “SORNA’s requirements exist independently of state law requirements.” The publication also refutes an assertion by ACSOL and its allies that a registrant’s duty to act under SORNA arises only when the registrant travels interstate.
“In this final rule, the federal government is requiring some individuals required to register to comply with federal regulations such as registering up to four times a year without providing state and local government with additional resources,” stated ACSOL President Chance Oberstein. “This could result in gross injustices.”
According to today’s publication, “sex offenders are not held liable….for violation of registration requirements of which they are unaware, and noncompliance with SORNA may be excused where compliance is prevented by circumstances beyond their control, such as a jurisdiction’s failure to carry out a necessary complementary role.” The publication provides as an example a registrant who attempts to provide information required by SORNA to local law enforcement, but local law enforcement refuses to accept or record that information.
“ACSOL is concerned that registrants will be sent to federal prison for violations of these regulations during the time it takes to prove that local law enforcement was unwilling or unable to help registrants comply with these SORNA regulations,” stated Bellucci. “These regulations shift many burdens to individual registrants and do not penalize local law enforcement.”
Recording of ACSOL Emergency meeting with additional information regarding the final SORNA regulations.
A link to the 32-page publication issued today can be found below this article.
Federal Register Dec 8, 2021 (Easier to read in a web browser)
PDF version of above (Better for a printed version)
They keep piling and piling new rules and regulations impossible to follow. Am I living in the US or North Korea? I would prefer the latter at this point!!
Our government has now achieved another way to punish and make life miserable for those who are required to register and their families/loved ones.
When is SCOTUS going to recognize their terrible mistake and “end this madness” ?? When will politicians stop seeing this as another way to pad their resume???
so does this mean we all must register 4X a year now in the US ?
Right now I have no hope. I’m not surprised by this announcement by the Feds; yet it’s disappointing. F u Garland!!
I just spoke to our local registration specialist from the Wisconsin DOC about this.
My main concern is about how to comply given that Wisconsin doesn’t provide a mechanism for compliance. She agreed – for registrants in Wisconsin off supervision there are no in-person requirements. There is not even an office open to registrants to do an in-person if we wanted to.
The Feds have now put a responsibility upon our shoulders that we have no authority to carry out.
Hope I’m not chosen to be a test case for this, and truly hope that it can be stopped before the prosecutions begin.
If it wasn’t for the threat of imprisonment for this so called “regulatory” or “administrative” scheme the registry is, this would almost be laughable. They really have it out for the “Ex” offenders, but Karma will hopefully catch up to them. This is getting more and more ridiculous.
Maybe, it is really time to PROVE that the registry IS punishment. There are no ifs or buts.
So we have to provide Internet identifiers again? We just had that provision removed from Michigan law this year, by Federal order! This is Putin-style thuggery, not rule of law. There should be career consequences for the recent Georgetown Law grad interns who wrote this nonsense, completely ignoring precedent.
It is kind of humorous how they keep trying to polish up their pile of feces. The changes they make are less and less effective pretty much every day. So that is funny. They look pathetic and desperate. I can just see the morons in meetings – “How about if we make them tell us X within 5 days? No, no, I’ve got it – 3 days! Yeah, that’ll protect children.” Pathetic.
Today, I’ll ensure that their Oppression Lists are worthless. I’ll also ensure that society experiences negative repercussions from them. The war must rage.
With the full onus of responsibility now on the registrants to comply with this law, are we now at the point where SCOTUS might rule that this is no longer the same as simply mailing in a discount club membership once a year?
How many more obligations and duties need to be added before they’ll see that the law is no longer the same?
The law we have before us now is so substantially different than what they ruled on in Smith vs. Doe that a different outcome must be reached.
Call this guy and ask him if were supposed to follow our states constitution and legal precedent, our this pile of dung. David J. Karp, Senior Counsel, Office of Legal Policy, U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, DC, 202-514-3273
Off the top of their heads not a single prosecutor, defense attorney, law enforcement official, judge, law clerk, department of justice or corrections personnel, parole agent, probation officer, Governor, member of a state Legislature or Senate, member of Congress, Judge, court employee, or anyone else associated with laws knows every law, statute, ordinance, or regulation. If the federal government believes for one second that most people registrants or otherwise will ask for/offer information they don’t require locally let alone probably don’t know of, then the federal government must believe in fairy tales.
What the hell does this mean in CA? This pdf is 32 pages of BS. What does it actually mean for us here in CA?
If they now want our internet identifiers, does that mean they’re also going to want passwords? I don’t get how this is going to work. What happens if I change my password every week? I have more than 80 internet addresses, and I’m adding new ones/removing old ones every week. What are they going do, monitor each and every one of them? What if you use a VPN? (which is beginning to sound more and more like a good idea) Think about cities and counties that have hundreds of registrants. 4 visits per year, times let’s say 300 registrants. Let’s see… that’s 1200 visits per year, at around an hour of time spent per visit. That’s 1200 hours, or the equivalent of 150 8-hour work days. Are you kidding?! Are federal marshalls going to start coming to our doors? Is some federal bureaucrat somewhere going to determine tiers, and essentially somebody’s future?
The responses the Justice Department provided regarding comments was a big old pile of poop. Most are not even properly addressed.
There needs to be an emergency stay on this some how some way somewhere…
This is the only Gov scheme where a person can go back to PRISON for not committing a crime. Unbelievable, we have to walk on eggshells and just wait and each and everyone of us WILL be back in prison on some technicality. Going postal yet anyone???? Going back anyways…
This is an important section,
Section 72.8(a)(1)(iii) in this rule explains that sex offenders are not held liable under 18 U.S.C. 2250 for violation of registration requirements of which they are unaware, and noncompliance with SORNA may be excused where compliance is prevented by circumstances beyond their control, such as a jurisdiction’s failure to carry out a necessary complementary role. These principles apply to all requirements under SORNA, including the requirement of § 72.6 to provide specified types of information for inclusion in the registry. Hence, a sex offender is not held liable for failing to provide a type of information if he is unaware of a requirement to provide that information, as may be the case if a jurisdiction does not request that information in its registration forms, and failure to provide any type of information may be excused if a jurisdiction will not accept that information for inclusion in its registry. (v) The comment asserted that the interpretation of the affirmative defense of 18 U.S.C. 2250(c), in the analysis statement’s discussion of §§ 72.7(g) and 72.8, violates due process because it shifts the burden of proof to defendants. However, § 72.8(a)(1)(iii) explains that liability under 18 U.S.C. 2250(a)–(b) is conditioned on the defendant’s being aware of the requirement he is charged with violating. The regulation and the accompanying analysis do not impose on the defendant a burden of proving that he lacked such awareness. Section 72.8(a)(2) states that there is an affirmative defense to liability for noncompliance with SORNA in certain circumstances, pursuant to 18 U.S.C. 2250(c). The regulation and the accompanying discussion do not change the burden of proof on this defense, which Congress has expressly made an ‘‘affirmative defense.’’ Id.
So what happens when CA designates one a tier 3, for an offense that SORNA would designate a tier 1? Does this mean that I will now be re-registering every 3 months because of CA’s idiotic tier designation?
The House goes on Christmas break COB this Friday for one month from WDC. They start their district work Jan 3 before reporting back to WDC Jan 10 for 2nd session of current legislative Congress.
Convenient these new rules go effective during the break much like controversial nominations being put into place during breaks to avoid voting on them.
Majorityleader.gov shows the overall House calendar. I bet appeals could go to him on these rules given their timeline.
So, under these new regulations, anyone who has ever committed a crime in the United States which is in any way sexual, and this person is still breathing, and this person lives anywhere in the world, is now subject to the regulations and restrictions of SORNA.
Please let me know if there are any exceptions.
How is it they presume that removing constitutional rights from PFRs will not result in an armed response. I personally know of two registered individuals who are prepared for a violent conflict if the government continues to violate our rights. …
Thank you ACSOL for the alert and meeting. I guess I’ll call our agency soon and find out if they’re ready for every three month registration for Tier 3 folks. I back tracked from our annual and looks like 2nd week of Jan followed by April, July, and Oct for us… Perhaps also prepare a letter for them to sign if they refused to register?
Does this mean a registrant designed as Tier 1 in California and Federally will now be required to register for 15 years instead of 10?
As always one step foreword two steps back.
This legislation is more than one step.
It’s also disconcerting to see only 700 people/entities spoke up on this.
How about all SEX OFFENDERS go to a concentration camp.
750 of us will speak up?