United States v. Felt, No. 11-5237 (6th Cir. 2012)
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Defendant was convicted for failing to register under the Sex Offender Registration Notification Act, 18 U.S.C. 2250(a). Though the state's own sex registration form included notification of the federal duty to register and alerted registrants to federal criminal penalties of up to 10 years' imprisonment, Tennessee had not taken additional steps required to achieve substantial implementation of SORNA. The Sixth Circuit affirmed, holding that SORNA is effective in a state, even prior to its complete implementation. Refusing to address theoretical situations in which a state law would make compliance with federal law impossible or impractical, the court noted that defendant did not register under any possible definition of the term. Alternate arguments, that SORNA violates the Ex Post Facto Clause, the nondelegation doctrine, and the Tenth Amendment, were found to be without merit.
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