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Another District Court Dismisses SORNA Indictment on Commerce Clause Grounds

By Corey Rayburnyung

In U.S. v. Valverde, the Eastern District of California held that Congress lacked the authority to enact SORNA because the Act could not be justified under by the Commerce Clause. This is how the order addressed the jurisdictional limitation of SORNA: ... § 2250 does possess a purportedly jurisdictional element, as it penalizes a person who is required to register under SORNA and knowingly fails to do so or to update his or her registration and who travels in interstate commerce. In this way, unlike the statutes considered in Lopez and Morrison, the section limits the class of those who can be penalized to only those who have traveled in interstate commerce. The problem, however, is that this jurisdictional hook still creates a class that is too broad for Commerce Clause purposes...continue to full post

Full post as published by Sex Crimes on February 10, 2009 (boomark / email).